'Chicago Fire' First Look: Tensions Heat Up When a Hostile Takeover Threatens Firehouse 51 (Exclusive)

Chicago Fire is in quite a predicament.

On Wednesday's penultimate episode of the season, which was cut short due to the coronavirus outbreak, Firehouse 51 faces a new obstacle as they go toe to toe with unhappy firefighters from the recently shut down Firehouse 87. 

"Get away from those rigs!" Casey (Jesse Spencer) yells out in ET's exclusive clip, as he and the rest of Firehouse 51 bolt out the back door to stop the protesting first responders from doing more damage to their equipment while they chain themselves to the fire trucks.

Considering the fact that 51 has just been called in for an emergency, this isn't exactly the best timing for a protest by disgruntled cohorts. As the seconds pass, so too does the team's chances of successfully doing their job -- and the majority of Firehouse 51 isn't interested in keeping the peace with the protesters, who are filming their every move. 

"What are you doing to our rigs?" questions Chief Boden (Eamonn Walker), as Severide (Taylor Kinney) calls for bolt cutters to get the massive chains off the rigs.

"This is a formal protest of the closing of Station 87," an ex-firefighter states matter-of-factly, making his intention known that he won't be moving from his spot. This angers Hermann (David Eigenberg), who tells him they've been the ones "picking up the slack" since their firehouse closed and warns that they're going to drive off to complete the emergency call -- with or without them still chained to the fire trucks.

But before they can rev up the fire engines, Boden makes an executive decision, radioing in to command to let them know that they're not in any position to report to the emergency and to request that they redirect the call. Meanwhile, Severide does his best attempt to cut the chains off with the bolt cutters -- to no avail.

What is 51 going to do with a protest on their hands? Watch ET's exclusive sneak peek above to see what happens next.

There's a lot going on in this week's episode. Not only is 51 forced to contend with a hostile takeover of their own firehouse, it's also Cruz and Chloe's big wedding day. The question is: Will Cruz make it down the aisle amid the drama at 51? (Chances are he'll find a way.) 

"We're going to try to do something different than we've ever done on the show with that," showrunner Derek Haas told ET in January. "We've had a wedding at Molly's, we've had a wedding at the courthouse and we've had a wedding at the firehouse. This is going to be something very unique to Chicago and with Severide as best man and Kidd over on the bride's side, the audience will be excited to watch what may happen there."

Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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