One Chicago Podcast – Victor Teran and Alec Wells (Writers on Chicago Fire)

Date: November 20, 2025
Host: Brian Luce (Wolf Entertainment)
Guests: Victor Teran & Alec Wells

Episode Overview

This episode of the One Chicago Podcast offers a behind-the-scenes look at how real-life tragedy shaped one of Chicago Fire’s most personal stories. Show writers Victor Teran and Alec Wells join host Brian Luce to discuss how the devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires – which claimed Victor’s home – transformed the way they write about loss, resilience, and the meaning of “stuff” for first responders and their families. Listeners get an intimate look at the creative process, the emotional toll of real loss, and how it all fuels the drama on screen.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Personal Journeys to One Chicago

• Alec Wells’ Chicago Roots & Inspiration
  • Alec grew up in Chicago, initially dreamt of sports, became inspired by a high school teacher and great TV — especially “Six Feet Under.”

    “I remember specifically the show that made me want to become a television writer was a show called Six Feet Under on HBO... tell a family story against the backdrop of something bigger … with real life and death stakes." (Alec, 05:00)

• Victor Teran’s Path through LA
  • Victor followed his future wife to LA, worked his way up from script reader for Ridley Scott, learned from masters like Robert and Michelle King.
  • Landed in the Wolf Entertainment world after writing a pilot about ambulances during COVID.

    “I actually came out to LA to follow a girl out here… long story short, she’s my wife now.” (Victor, 06:17)

2. Translating Real Tragedy to Screen: The Wildfire and Episode 1404

• The Real-Life Fire
  • Victor recalls the night the wildfire swept through Altadena, forcing his family to evacuate and destroying their home.
  • He vividly recounts the disbelief, chaos, and aftermath as entire neighborhoods vanished:

    “It was an apocalyptic landscape. Every house on our street... was just gone.” (Victor, 13:27)

• Writing the Most Personal Chicago Fire Episode
  • Alec breaks down episode 1404:
    • Christopher Herrmann, a beloved firefighter, loses his home to a fire while his family is at risk — a call that flips the “victim” perspective usually shown on the show.
    • Focuses on the tangible and intangible meaning of loss:

      “This episode is a little bit of, like, an elegy to stuff.” (Alec, 09:16)

  • Victor’s personal experience is woven into the episode’s DNA:
    • The two-bedroom apartment where Herrmann’s family lands, and even the line “smells like a nursing home,” are straight from Victor’s life.

      “One of Victor’s kids said, ‘This place smells like a nursing home.’ So I put that in the script.” (Alec, 25:05)

3. Navigating Grief and Empathy – On and Off Screen

• What to Say When Someone Loses Everything
  • The writers and staff struggled to support Victor:

    “How do you even put into words when somebody's lost everything? How do you make it better? But there is no guidebook for these things.” (Alec, 14:30)

  • This discomfort transferred directly into the show’s script, illustrating authentic awkwardness and silence around tragedy.
• What’s Really Lost in a Fire
  • The episode explores the unique pain of losing “stuff,” not just people — from a family’s door frame with kids’ heights marked, to childhood trophies and journals.

    "I really couldn’t have imagined...a more perfect symbol...both inherently worthless and means so much...the story of your family is literally etched into it." (Victor, 23:16)

• No Easy Lesson, No Quick Fix
  • The writers resisted giving Herrmann a “lesson” in moving on — instead, the focus is on sitting with grief and validating the hurt.

    “Herman doesn’t need to learn a lesson. This isn’t about learning a lesson. This is about the tragedy...and sitting in that. And the real person who has something to learn is Mouch. And what Mouch learns is, it’s not just stuff.” (Alec, 21:52)

4. Creative and Emotional Challenges in the Writer’s Room

• Blurring Reality and Fiction
  • Previous seasons had unknowingly mirrored Victor’s impending loss; now, the creative team drew directly from it.

    “What we were all going through was really infused into that episode so deeply..." (Victor, 16:07)

  • Alec describes the pressure of writing dialogue that would do both the character and Victor’s own story justice, especially in the episode’s emotional centerpiece:

    “It is the fight between Hermann and Mouch… I spent a lot of time going like, I have to nail this… when you say something like, ‘everything we cared about was in that house. Everything.’ What else do you need to say? I think we all know what that means.” (Alec, 32:39; 33:52)

• Personal Trauma Changing Professional Perspective
  • Victor reflects on the impact:

    “It humanizes firefighters for me in a way that hadn’t been before… my kids were mad at the firefighters at first, like, why didn’t they save our home? ...You get it on an intellectual level, but you still have to deal with the tension within yourself over that question.” (Victor, 31:12: 31:47)

5. The Writer-Fan Feedback Loop

• How Audiences Shape Storytelling
  • Alec and Victor love (and sometimes fear) the immediate fan response, especially in the social media age:

    “Now I get real time feedback, second by second, when an episode I’ve written is on the air…writing is such a lonely endeavor…so the fact that millions of people see what we do and react so passionately about it, I honestly couldn’t ask for anything better.” (Alec, 35:37)

  • The close relationship with fans shapes the show’s creative process, as writers try to meet — and sometimes subvert — expectations.

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• On the Meaning of Loss:

  "There are some things we can’t get back. Like your journals, or Lee Henry’s trophies, your mother’s ring..." (Alec, 22:48)

• On Bringing Real Pain to Fiction:

  “If there’s…any kind of silver lining…you can take this pain and try to...find a creative direction to fuel that pain.” (Alec, 15:55)

• On Facing Trauma:

  "Our job as writers...is more than just what you’re putting down on the page...since you [Victor] came back after the fire, I do think it has had a profound effect on the show." (Alec, 30:29)

• On the Power of “Stuff”:

  “Everything that mattered to us, it was in there…everything.” (Herrmann, 33:47)

Segment Timestamps

• [05:00–08:10] — Alec & Victor on their creative journeys
• [08:50–10:28] — Breaking down the storyline of episode 1404
• [10:44–13:45] — Victor’s account of the wildfire and losing his house
• [14:30–16:55] — Real life and narrative parallels, finding the right way to support someone through loss
• [20:55–22:48] — Hermann and Mouch’s key scene: “It’s not just stuff”
• [23:16] — Symbolism of the family door frame
• [24:34–25:19] — Incorporating Victor’s real-life post-fire details into the script
• [31:12–31:47] — Changed views: trauma humanizes and complicates the firefighter’s story
• [34:41–36:37] — The writer-fan relationship in the internet era
• [37:24–37:56] — Farewell and appreciation for writers’ honesty and storytelling

Concluding Takeaways

• This episode provides a deeply personal look at how real-life disaster and the process of rebuilding can lead to rich, nuanced storytelling.
• The writers challenge the easy dismissal of “stuff” as unimportant, showing how tangible things carry layers of family, love, and memory.
• The creative process in the One Chicago universe thrives when it stays honest, grounded, and open to being changed by real life — just as the fans stay passionate and invested in every story told.

For fans and newcomers alike, this podcast offers a rare, moving look at the ways television can reflect, process, and even help heal real-world trauma through honest storytelling and community.