Why Chicago Fire Is Not Airing On Its Regular Timeslot Tonight (March 4) & When Season 14, Episode 13 Releases

Chicago Fire season 14 isn’t airing on its usual timeslot tonight, March 14, 2026, for a very important reason. Because the One Chicago franchise premiered earlier in the fall compared to its fellow scripted shows, it also started its holiday/winter break before its competitors. After coming back from its mandatory holiday, it once again entered a hiatus period to make way for NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage. Now, Chicago Fire season 14, Chicago PD season 13, and Chicago Med season 11 are ready to release new episodes.

As the 2025-2026 TV cycle enters its final few months, scripted shows are gearing up to start culminating its season-long arcs. For the people over at Firehouse 51, that should include some kind of movement in Kelly Severide and Stella Kidd’s quest to start their own family. The procedural has been incredibly difficult on them, as they are dealing with disappointment over disappointment. Elsewhere, some personnel changes are expected, as it was previously reported that Dermot Mulroney is taking a break from the show as Dom Pascal.

How NBC and Wolf Entertainment are planning to address these storylines, as well as the many others that have developed in the last few months for Chicago Fire, remains uncertain. There’s excitement for the show to return tonight, but fans need to be cautious about some scheduling changes.

Chicago Fire Season 14 Switches Timeslot With Chicago Med Season 11

While the One Chicago franchise is coming back with fresh episodes tonight, Chicago Fire season 14 isn’t airing in its usual timeslot — 9 PM ET. Instead, NBC is pushing it an hour earlier, which means that it will premiere at 8 PM ET, effectively taking over Chicago Med season 12’s usual airtime. The two shows are switching timeslots in light of the much-anticipated 2026 One Chicago crossover.

The change is not a permanent change, however. After this week’s network TV event, Chicago Fire season 14 and Chicago Med season 11 will eventually go back to their usual airtimes. NBC’s decision to change things may seem ill-planned, especially since it’s happening at such an important juncture in One Chicago’s run in this ongoing cycle. However, the crossover is precisely the reason why the network and Wolf Entertainment are doing this.

Following the 2025 One Chicago crossover format, NBC is once agaon opening the three-part “Reckoning” TV event with Pascal and the rest of the Firehouse 51 answering a call to an airfield. From there, a series of mysteries that would eventually have people over at Gaffney and then Intelligence eventually be involved. If the franchise maintains its crossover formats, expect new character pairings throughout the special.

Why Chicago Fire Opens The 2026 One Chicago Crossover

NBC

From a storytelling perspective, it shouldn’t be surprising that NBC and Wolf Entertainment want to open the One Chicago crossover with its inaugural show. Usually, there’s an inciting incident that paves the way for the Windy City’s finest first-responders to come together and save the day for the metropolis. As a firehouse, Pascal’s team is more often than not always the first one to be called to a developing scene. The same goes for the 2026 One Chicago crossover.

Pascal, Voight, and Platt in the One Chicago crossover

One Chicago 2026’s Crossover Changes Its Winning Formula For The First Time Ever

New details about the 2026 One Chicago crossover confirms that NBC is changing its winning formula for the special for the first time in its history.

With the incident established and checked out by the firefighters, the doctors from Gaffney Medical are called to offer additional medical services — especially if Ambo 61 can no longer deal with the severity of the cases. From there, the investigation into what led to the tragedy that caused all the commotion begins, hence why Voight and the rest of the Intelligence get involved. This time, however, former members of the specialized police unit, Hailey Upton and Jay Halstead are coming back to participate.

Just because Chicago Fire is opening the 2026 One Chicago crossover doesn’t mean that they will only be part of the first hour of the event. NBC usually plans these events as a three-hour story rather than being clearly segmented. So while the bulk of Firehouse 51’s role will be at the start, expect that they will remain present in it until the issue gets resolved.

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