The veteran Montgomery County firefighter who died during a house fire in Laurel Saturday was identified Sunday.
Christopher J. Higgins, 46, was putting ladders up at the house fire when he was stricken, Montgomery County Fire Chief Corey Smedley told WTOP.com.
Firefighters from Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties were dispatched to the house fire on Bradford Lane around 5 p.m.
Higgins was the driver of a fire apparatus from Burtonsville Fire Station 815.
"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 cardio pulmonary resuscitation efforts to our firefighter," Montgomery County Fire Chief Corey Smedley told DC News Now Saturday night. "We transported him to a regional hospital, where, unfortunately, he succumbed to his medical condition."
Higgins served the department for 22 years and held the rank of master firefighter.
He leaves behind a wife and two young children.
Fire officials said the fire was reported to be in a carport and a mayday was called during the early parts of the incident.
Firefighters gathered at White Oak Medical Center in Silver Spring Saturday night as the fallen firefighter's remains were transported to the medical examiner in Baltimore where firefighters line the travel route to salute their comrade.
"It is with profound sadness that the BVFD shares in the grief following the loss of our brother Master Firefighter Christopher Higgins. Having begun in the fire service as a volunteer with the Earleigh Heights VFD, MFF Higgins was a 22-year veteran of the Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service and was assigned to Fire Station 15 since 2015," Burtonsville Volunteer Fire Department shared in a statement.
“To our community, we are still here for you; even during this tough time, we are going to still ensure that we are protecting our community,” Smedley said. “I just ask that things that happen over the next couple of days, you bear with us, it is going to be a very difficult time for each and every one of us.”
Peter Matthews | Editor-in-Chief/Conference Director
Peter Matthews is the conference director and editor-in-chief of Firehouse. He has worked at Firehouse since 1999, serving in various roles on both Firehouse Magazine and Firehouse.com staffs. He completed an internship with the Rochester, NY, Fire Department and served with fire departments in Rush, NY, and Laurel, MD, and was a lieutenant with the Glenwood Fire Company in Glenwood, NY. Matthews served as photographer for the St. Paul, MN, Fire Department.
