Fairview, NC, Battalion Chief Killed in Hurricane Rescue Described as 'Loveable, Selfless'
Buncombe County residents and visitors paused Tuesday afternoon to remember a devoted chief who answered his final alarm last month trying to save people after Hurricane Helene.
Fairview Battalion Chief Tony Garrison was described as loveable, funny and selfless.
Officials say Garrison died while working alongside his nephew to rescue 11 people trapped by a mudslide. When flooding triggered a second mudslide, it swept all 13 people away, WYFF reported.
"You know, we listened to the radio, listened to the Chief of Garren Creek on the radio. We were stuck here. We couldn't get there to him," said Reynolds Fire Chief Vince Carter.
"It's tough because those firefighters are built to, they want to serve. And they're going to go and do whatever it takes. And, when they can, you can't, you know, and leave them with, you know, a sense of, I guess, failure."
These emergency workers are still getting used to their new normal while mourning neighbors, friends, and family members.
"Nothing's going to be normal anymore. There's going to be a new normal."
"Hug your family, love on your family," Carter said. "Tomorrow is not promised to us. So, love on your family."
