A Coffin That Small is the nineteenth episode of first season and the 19th overall episode of Chicago Fire.
Summary[]
Tragedy strikes when a rescue attempt at a tenement building proves unsuccessful, leaving the men and women of Firehouse 51 affected by the loss of the victim. Severide's decision to put Mills on the fast track to move from Truck to Squad doesn't sit well with some of the others and tension mounts between Severide and Casey over Heather Darden. Shay and Dawson are forced to deal with a junkie's crazy behavior while on a call and Shay considers a different way to have a family. Meanwhile, the team draws the ire of local drug dealers who threaten the peace and safety of the neighborhood and firehouse.
Plot[]

Source: NBC.com
Severide stops by Casey's house to apologize for Benny's behavior the day before. While he's standing at the door, he notices Heather inside. Casey doesn't have time to explain that Heather slept on the couch before Severide drives away in a huff.

Source: NBC.com
Later, the squad is going through the arduous process of flushing fire hydrants. A neighborhood kid calls the firemen to his apartment complex, where they find his brother stuck in an old laundry chute. The squad members quickly grab their gear and cut the boy out of the wall. He's alive, but badly hurt.

Source: NBC.com
Back at the station, Mouch shows off his Japanese skills to win a bet with Otis. Severide tells Casey that he's planning to transfer Mills to squad. Casey is upset that nobody consulted him about the transfer. At the hospital, Dawson tries to comfort the mother of the boy stuck in the laundry chute. The boy's mother tells Dawson that her son idolizes firefighters.

Source: NBC.com
Chief Boden calls Mills into his office and tells him that he doesn't think Mills is cut out for Squad. Shay asks Severide if he'll donate sperm so that she can have a baby, but Severide doesn't answer her. In the loading dock, Severide attempts to confront Casey about his involvement with Heather, but the conversation is interrupted when a drive-by shooter opens fire on the station, shattering the windows and forcing everyone to hit the deck.

Source: NBC.com
After some interviews, the police head out to search for leads. In the meantime, they post police officers outside the station. The next morning, the gang presence around the station seems more noticeable. Later, Severide tells Shay that he'll donate his sperm so that she can have a baby, and she is overjoyed. Dawson intercepts Mills on a jog and convinces him to talk to her about his problems.

Source: NBC.com
The team returns for their next shift to discover that the boy trapped in the laundry chute died at the hospital. Shay and Dawson respond to a paramedic call. While they attend to a homeless man, their ambulance is stolen with Dawson in the back.

Source: NBC.com
The police immediately give chase, while Dawson holds on for dear life in the back of the ambulance. Dawson thinks fast and tricks the thief into stopping the ambulance. Later, Shay tells Severide that she can't afford the costly lab fees for insemination, so she'd like to do it "the old-fashioned way." Severide agrees to the proposal.

Source: NBC.com
Casey confronts the gangbangers on the corner and convinces them to take him to their leader. When they oblige, Casey talks to the gang leader. He discovers that the gangs hide their drugs in the fire hydrants, and they're upset because the squad flushed their stash. Casey tells the gang leader to stay away from the hydrants.

Source: NBC.com
Back at the station, Shay tells Severide that her father agreed to pay for the insemination. Later, the firefighters assemble outside to pay their respects to the funeral procession for the boy trapped in the laundry chute. The gangbangers witness the show of respect and decide to stop harassing the firehouse.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Jesse Spencer as Lieutenant Matthew Casey
- Taylor Kinney as Lieutenant Kelly Severide
- Monica Raymund as Paramedic in Charge Gabriela Dawson
- Lauren German as Paramedic Leslie Shay
- Charlie Barnett as Firefighter Candidate Peter Mills
- David Eigenberg as Firefighter Christopher Herrmann
- Joe Minoso as Firefighter Joe Cruz
- Yuri Sardarov as Firefighter Brian "Otis" Zvonecek
- Christian Stolte as Firefighter Randy "Mouch" McHolland
- Eamonn Walker as Battalion Chief Wallace Boden
Recurring Cast[]
- Randy Flagler as Firefighter Harold Capp
- William Smillie as Firefighter Kevin Hadley
- Brooke Nevin as Tara Little
- Ora Jones as Rochelle Leppert
- Chaon Cross as Heather Darden
Guest Cast[]
- Raphael Sbarge as Larry Herrmann
- Morocco Omari as Detective Ben Vikan
- Kris D. Lofton as Greshawn
- Marcus Jackson as Dougie Leppert
- Jabarie McCoy as Taye
- Dustin Whitehead as Louis
- Patrick Zielinski as Phillip (Homeless Guy)
- Sammy Publes as Uniformed Cop
- Denzell Armon as Dealer
- Fred Zimmerman as Preacher
- Bill McGough as Mortician