Firehouse 51 is preparing to welcome its own return. Taylor Kinney is set to return to

Chicago Fire for the NBC drama’s 12th season, which will begin production after resolving

the actors’ strike. Sources say the Chicago Fire writers’ room has brought Kinney’s Kelly

Severide back to the show for early episodes; It is currently unclear whether the character will return permanently or just for a few episodes. Kinney retired from the series in the latter part of the 2022-23 season due to what sources described as personal issues. On-screen, Severide’s absence was explained by saying that the character was on an arson investigation program and the show implied that he would return. In the first episode, a conversation between Captain Van Meter (Tim Hopper) and Chief Boden (Eamonn Walker) suggests that when Severide completes the program, he may share his expertise with the fire station.

. Kinney has been a part of Chicago Fire since its inception in 2012 and appeared in 231 consecutive episodes before going on a sabbatical, which spanned the final eight parts of season 11. He also guest starred in more than 20 episodes of other Chicago series on NBC (PD, Med, and the short-lived Justice). After the writers’ strike ended in late September, the writers’ rooms of all three Chicago series and NBC’s Law & Order trilogy — all of which came from production giant Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television — has reopened. Production won’t begin until actors union SAG-AFTRA resolves its strike against studios and streamers; The two sides have met regularly over the past few weeks but a statement from the union on Oct. 30 said that “While negotiations over the past week have been productive, we are still far apart on issues. Main problem.”