10 Most Intense Disaster Moments From 9-1-1

One of the best aspects of 9-1-1 is, without a doubt, its thrilling disasters and emergencies scattered throughout its seven (soon to be eight) seasons and 106 episodes, with some standing out amongst the rest. The procedural drama, created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear, premiered in January 2018 on Fox, its home for six seasons before 9-1-1 moved to ABC for season 7 (and season 8 in late 2024). 9-1-1 follows a group of emergency first responders, including police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and dispatchers, in LA, meaning the series features the characters responding to various natural and man-made disasters.

Of course, 9-1-1 has had its fair share of over-the-top or bizarre emergencies that the firefighters and paramedics have to attend to. But some of the TV show’s best episodes revolve around significant and devastating situations, like a catastrophic wave crashing into the Santa Monica Pier or a capsized cruise ship. As 9-1-1 heads into its eighth season, the upcoming episodes will, hopefully, contain disasters that can compete with the daunting precedent set by previous emergencies in the procedural drama series.

10 Cruise Ship Disaster In “Abandon Ships,” “Rock The Boat,” & “Capsized”

9-1-1 Season 7, Episodes 1, 2, & 3

To kick off the show’s debut on ABC, Angela Bassett’s Athena and Peter Krause’s Bobby’s honeymoon on a cruise ship takes a turn for the worst when pirates hijack the vessel during the intense three-part 9-1-1 season 7 premiere. The pirates take everyone hostage as they search for a dongle that supposedly has a fortune in Bitcoin on it. By the second hour, the pirates retrieve the dongle and leave the ship, but not before setting off an explosion. To make matters worse, the cruise ship is headed straight towards a hurricane.

Unfortunately, it takes until the end of 9-1-1 season 7, episode 2, for Hen to notice that Athena and Bobby’s cruise ship is no longer detectable on the radar. Episode 3, the final part of the season 7 premiere, is spent trying to find the missing boat. Meanwhile, Athena and Bobby try to survive and help others while the ship starts to sink. Thankfully, the fan-favorite couple eventually makes it out alive, but it was touch and go for a while, making the cruise ship hijacking and capsizing one of 9-1-1‘s most intense disasters.

9 Bridge Collapse In “Pay It Forward”

9-1-1 Season 6, Episode 18

Most of the ABC procedural drama’s best and most thought-out emergencies come during premieres or finales, including the 9-1-1 season 6 finale. Season 6’s last episode begins with a dispatch call about a bridge that collapsed while the firefighters and paramedics of Station 118 were on it, responding to multiple car accidents on the overpass. The episode then flashes back a few hours to explain the events leading up to the bridge collapse.

9-1-1‘s first responders tend to those hurt on the overpass during the season 6 finale. However, when a truck driver falls asleep at the wheel, the semi crashes into a pillar supporting the bridge, causing it to collapse. Hen is knocked unconscious in the ambulance’s driver’s seat, a pipe impales Chimney in the abdomen in the back of said ambulance, and Eddie is injured and stuck in a van directly underneath the ambulance. Plus, Bobby is MIA as he is buried underneath debris. Thankfully, everyone in the 118 survives, but many could have easily died throughout the heart-racing hour.

8 Blackout In “Panic,” “Desperate Times,” & “Desperate Measures”

9-1-1 Season 5, Episodes 1, 2, & 3

Not every 9-1-1 emergency can be flashy, like season 3’s tsunami or season 7’s cruise ship disaster, but they can still be intense, like the citywide blackout during the three-part premiere of season 5. A hacker group breaks into LA’s technology, causing chaos everywhere (including Jeffery Hudson’s escape). By the end of “Panic,” the entire city undergoes a blackout, and the 9-1-1 characters use their expertise to help out at a hospital.

The blackout causes a helicopter crash, zoo animals to break loose, and more as a heatwave engulfs the city in the 9-1-1 season 5 premiere. Perhaps the disaster isn’t as intense as others, but the search for Jeffrey still makes it thrilling and worthwhile to watch. Plus, a blackout is much more dangerous than it appears to be on the outside, especially concerning the dire need for electricity at hospitals.

7 Sniper Shooting In “Suspicion” & “Survivors”

9-1-1 Season 4, Episodes 13 & 14

9-1-1 season 4’s ending is another man-made emergency as a sniper is on the loose in LA, shooting at the first responders from afar. While the penultimate hour isn’t particularly overly thrilling at the start, Eddie getting shot in the shoulder right in front of Buck and the chaos that ensues increases the 9-1-1 episode’s intensity by tenfold. Episode 13 ends with Buck crouched down on the ground, hiding from the sniper, and looking straight at Eddie as he bleeds out. It’s one of the procedural drama’s most haunting scenes and one that viewers will remember for seasons to come.

At the beginning of the 9-1-1 season 4 finale, Buck drags Eddie to safety and rushes him to the hospital, where he spends the majority of the hour fighting for his life. Meanwhile, the others hunt down the scorned ex-firefighter behind the sniper attacks. Like most other episodes, the smart 9-1-1 characters make it out alive. But with scenes as memorable as the ones where Eddie is shot, Buck tells Christopher what happened to his dad, and Athena saves Bobby from the sniper, the 9-1-1 season 4 finale is among the show’s best.

6 Dam Break & Landslide In “The New Abnormal” & “Alone Together”

9-1-1 Season 4, Episodes 1 & 2

9-1-1 season 4 is bookended by two intense emergencies as the season leads off with a dam break and subsequent landslide. At the beginning of episode 1, the Hollywood Reservoir Dam breaks due to seismic activity. Of course, the firefighters and paramedics of Station 118 respond to the disaster. The 9-1-1 character who is in the most danger during the hour is Athena. Angela Bassett’s character tries to persuade an agoraphobic woman to leave her Hollywood Hills house because of a possible landslide. However, the two get trapped when the house falls.

Of course, Athena and the woman, Sylvia, make it out alive by the end of 9-1-1 season 4, episode 2. However, the scenes featuring Athena and Sylvia fighting for their lives and waiting for help leave viewers on the edge of their seats. Athena is important to 9-1-1, and her survival is integral to the procedural drama’s overarching story.

5 Stuck In Sewage Pipe In “Eddie Begins”

9-1-1 Season 3, Episode 15

Even though only one 9-1-1 character’s life is in danger in season 3, episode 15, “Eddie Begins” is still one of the show’s most thrilling hours. The season 3 episode begins with Station 118 responding to an emergency where a child is stuck in a sewage pipe 50 feet underground. However, the situation worsens after Eddie saves the young boy. A lightning bolt causes an explosion, trapping Eddie underground in 9-1-1 when it was on Fox.

As the title suggests, “Eddie Begins” is all about Eddie and his past before joining the cast of 9-1-1​​​​​​. Ryan Guzman’s character reminisces on his marriage, the birth of his son, and enlisting in the Army while struggling to survive stuck underground. Eddie eventually makes it out alive, but 9-1-1 season 3, episode 15, easily captures the attention of audiences, watching to learn more about Eddie and his past while rooting for him to survive.

4 Tsunami In “Kids Today,” “Sink Or Swim,” & “The Searchers”

9-1-1 Season 3, Episodes 1, 2, & 3

The tsunami that hits Los Angeles during the 9-1-1 season 3 premiere is perhaps the show’s best disaster as it is thrilling from beginning to end. “Kids Today” ends with a massive wave hurdling towards Santa Monica Pier, where Buck has taken Christopher while Eddie is at work. “Sink or Swim” begins with the tsunami hitting the pier, flooding the streets of Los Angeles. The tide carries Buck and Christopher away, and while they reunite, they get separated when Buck leaves the young boy on top of a firetruck while he tends to others who need help. When Buck returns, Christopher is nowhere to be seen.

Buck frantically searches for Eddie’s son during “The Searchers” to no avail. It’s not until he goes to the VA hospital that he reunites with Eddie and Christopher, giving a happy ending to that story. Elsewhere in the three-part 9-1-1 season 3 premiere, Maddie is significantly affected when she is forced to listen to a victim drown in his attic, Athena and May are involved in a multi-car crash, and Bobby, Eddie, and Lena rescue those stuck on the Santa Monica Pier’s Ferris wheel, which is half submerged in water.

3 Bombing In “Careful What You Wish For” & “This Life We Choose”

9-1-1 Season 2, Episodes 17 & 18

9-1-1 season 2 ends with a bang (literally) when a bomb placed underneath one of Station 118’s firetrucks explodes, trapping Buck’s leg underneath the vehicle. Throughout the episode prior, a serial bomber had been terrorizing the city, who then targets the firefighter in the finale. The bomber turns out to be a teenager named Freddy who wants revenge on Bobby for sending his father to prison. Freddy approaches the wrecked firetruck with a bomb strapped to his chest, asking for Bobby in Ryan Murphy’s TV show.

Peter Krause’s character ultimately gets hold of the detonator, and the police take Freddy away towards the end of the 9-1-1 season 2 finale. However, Buck is still pinned underneath the firetruck, meaning the danger isn’t over yet. The first responders and civilian bystanders work together to get the vehicle off of Buck before he succumbs to his injuries. So, Buck survives the 9-1-1 season 2 finale disaster. However, Buck’s leg injury continues to haunt him the next season as the doctors warn him that he might not be able to be a firefighter anymore.

2 Earthquake In “Under Pressure,” “7.1,” & “Help Is Not Coming”

9-1-1 Season 2, Episodes 1, 2, & 3

The catastrophic earthquake during the 9-1-1 season 2 premiere is also at the top of the TV show’s most well-crafted and entertaining disasters. 9-1-1 season 2 completely avoids the infamous sophomore slump by starting with a thrilling three-part premiere featuring the characters responding to a devastating earthquake. The procedural drama also needed a grand opening to make up for the loss of Connie Britton’s Abby from 9-1-1 season 1, and the writers produced one.

9-1-1‘s three-part season 2 premiere is its first multi-episode disaster, and it set a daunting precedent for those that follow. A 7.1 magnitude earthquake ripples through Los Angeles, followed by various aftershocks. Station 118’s first responders (including Eddie, the crew’s new firefighter, and Maggie, Buck’s estranged sister and the new 911 dispatcher) tend to numerous emergencies throughout the city, including the collapse of a hotel and a collapsed overpass. The earthquake is one of 9-1-1‘s most memorable disasters, and the show has been trying to top it ever since (only succeeding with the tsunami).

1 Plane Crash In “Worst Day Ever”

9-1-1 Season 1, Episode 4

One of 9-1-1‘s most thrilling emergency calls will always be the plane crash in season 1, episode 4. As many will recall, a plane catches on fire and crashes into the ocean during the hour. Consequently, most of the 9-1-1 characters respond to the incident, including Bobby, Hen, and Buck, as the aircraft slowly sinks into the water with people trapped inside.

9-1-1 season 1, episode 4 features many close calls as the first responders attempt to save as many people as they can before the plane fully sinks underwater. Bobby even gets into dire trouble at one point, but Buck is able to save him. Meanwhile, Athena is dealing with those panicked at the nearby airport, including an agitated passenger on a grounded plane. Ultimately, “Worst Day Ever” is aptly named as it features one of the most horrifying situations one can imagine. For that reason alone, season 1, episode 4 contains one of 9-1-1‘s most intense disasters.