Who is Burke on Chicago Fire? Showrunner calls the new probie 'the oil to somebody's water'
Chicago Fire's new showrunner built Marcus Burke to clash with someone at Firehouse 51. Three episodes in, he still hasn't said who, and Burke isn't saying much of anything.
Marcus Burke is the candidate on Truck 81 who keeps showing up late, keeps to himself and keeps getting looks from everyone else in the house. Da'Vinchi plays him as a new series regular in Chicago Fire season 15, which premiered on NBC on October 7, 2026. Showrunner Victor Teran told TVLine he designed Burke as "the oil to somebody's water" at Firehouse 51, and left the somebody unnamed.
Episode 3, "Take the Hit," finally explains why Burke holds everyone at arm's length. It takes a firehouse-wide witch hunt to get there.
Who plays Burke
Da'Vinchi, 30, came over from All American and BMF. When he was cast in July, the character was described as "roguish and funny with a wry sense of humor, and also a little defiant," per Us Weekly, citing Deadline.
He arrives in a season of new management. Andrea Newman, who ran Chicago Fire for more than a decade, left after season 14, and co-executive producer Victor Teran took over. His first batch of candidates comes with a warning label.
"So these guys are very green. They're a little wild."
— Victor Teran, showrunner, to Give Me My Remote
Teran added that all of them have the potential to stick around, "one of them more than the others." He didn't say which one.
Oil and water
Teran's "somebody" could be several people. One Chicago Center's Reed Gaudens bets on Sal Vasquez, a fellow newcomer still trying to prove himself, and Comic Basics notes Burke has already clashed with him on calls. Lt. Stella Kidd, who's evaluating the candidates, is also on the shortlist of people Burke irritates.
Chicago Fire has run this play before. In season 1, Kelly Severide and Matt Casey couldn't stand each other, and they ended up best friends. Teran's oil-and-water line reads like a promise to do it again, with a probie this time.
What "Take the Hit" reveals
Episode 3 aired October 21 and puts Burke at the center of an internal investigation, per Fiction Horizon:
- The incident: Kidd sends the candidates into a warehouse chemical fire with orders not to touch the gas valves. Somebody touches one, and the pressure surge puts Tony in the hospital.
- The suspect: Nobody confesses, so Severide and Kidd look at the candidate who doesn't talk to anyone. Burke has also been slipping off to Gaffney Chicago Medical without explanation, which doesn't help.
- The culprit: Rust on the gloves points to McCaffrey (Matthew Daddario). He calls his father, an Illinois state senator, for help, and Severide fires him anyway.
McCaffrey's parting shot is aimed at Burke: nobody at the station actually knows him. The last scene proves the point.
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Burke is back at Gaffney, sitting beside his father, who is in a coma, and the paperwork on the chart reads M. Burke. That's where the late arrivals and the unexplained hospital visits were going.
Tell-Tale TV's Ashley Bissette Sumerel summed up the twist: "while Burke has been the one who seemed most problematic, it's McCaffrey" who turned out to be the problem.
Firehouse 51 spent a week treating Burke like the guilty one. It got rid of the senator's son instead, and still has no idea where Burke goes after shift.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. Burke's secret is now the audience's, and the firehouse is the last to know.
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