Earlier on Saturday, January 11 a firefighter tragically died while taking a call for a house fire in Laurel, Maryland.

The fire fighter was identified as Chris Higgans, who was a well respected member of the fire fighting community and many are mourning his loss. 

Higgans was responding to a call for a house fire and he was the driver for the first ladder truck to arrive at the scene. Higgans was putting ladders up on the building when he suddenly had a medical emergency. “We were responding to mutual aid for a house fire, and during that house fire, an emergency happened within the emergency, where we had to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation efforts to our firefighter,” said Montgomery County Fire Chief Corey Smedley. Higgans was then taken to Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center where he was unfortunately pronounced dead at 10 p.m.

Higgans served as a firefighter for 22 years and was a beloved member of the firefighting community.  He was considered a master firefighter and a friend by many. 

He was taken to a funeral home in Anne Arundel County and to respect the family’s wishes it is asked that no one but the assigned personnel attend. Those who wish the pay their respects may pay them at the designated locations or at fire stations.