Rescue Me's Most Shocking Deaths

Rescue Me strongly painted the portrait that every firefighter dreads the inevitable day where their age catches up with them and forces them to work behind a desk, rather than rush into burning buildings. Yet, for all we’d invested in Chief Jerry Reilly; his gambling problems, gay son, struggles with his Alzheimer’s andaffected wife, Rescue me shocked us hard when Jerry quickly decided to put a gun to his head rather than retire from active duty.

Every new series faces that inevitable redshirt moment where a well-liked character needs a brutal and shocking death to set the stakes for the rest of our heroes.One of Rescue Me’s most shocking deaths came from firefighter Billy Warren, who bit the big one as early as the series eighth episode by saving Tommy in a fire. Though, perhaps more attention-grabbing than his shocking death was what his wife revealed about Billy posthumously, causing the other firefighters to compare their own... hoses. Let’s go with hoses.

Having attended Probie school with Tommy, Jimmy Keefe and Needles, John “Stack” Stackhouse was another well-liked member of the crew brutally injured in a fire for pathos’ sake. He survived the fire with severe burns and amputated legs (soon to be hands as well), but Stack gives us one of Rescue Me’s most shocking deaths in that Tommy was the one to convince him to actually let go, his life not worth living as a vegetable firefighter. Harsh.

Rescue Me has given us some truly shocking deaths, but did they have to kill the poor puppy? Tommy’s well-named pooch proved a pain at first, but eventually bonded with his firefighter owner. That is of course, until Uncle Teddy accidentally released the dog to be run over in the street! More shocking stilly, Tommy actually cried over it! Well, that and his dead mother. But mostly the dog.