Source: nbc.com
I have a favorite show, and anyone who knows me in person knows what it is. NBC’s Chicago Fire is a drama that follows the lives of the firemen and paramedics of fictional firehouse fifty-one in Chicago. Although the show is fictional, many of the stories and themes explored in the episodes are based on real stories. Having watched every episode of the show multiple times, I’ve seen many of the very real ethical dilemmas that the show decides to retell, and this week I’ve decided to examine one of them.
On the fourth episode of the first season, the firemen are
called to attend to a massive warehouse fire. They enter the warehouse and
fight through the flames to rescue several homeless people and carry them to
safety. The fire chief, who is in charge of the rescue operation, sees that the
fire is about to flare up, and orders the firemen to exit the warehouse
immediately. However, the last man to leave, Peter Mills, notices a body in the
far corner of the warehouse. He follows orders and escapes the warehouse
seconds before the fire flares and fills the whole building, but the
unconscious homeless man dies in the explosion.
This episode highlighted the difficult position that fire
chiefs are often put in: having to decide between saving more victims and putting
his men at extreme risk.
This is a great ethical dilemma to examine, because its
premised on the fact that fire fighters are already performing a noble deed by
trying to rescue people and put out fires. In this case, it is not good vs.
evil, but rather which decision yields the most positive result.