Brian `Scott’ Carrigan, 35, remembered as funny, adventurous
Copyright 2006 The Charlotte Observer
Distributed by Knight/Ridder Tribune News Service
By AIMEE JUAREZ
The Charlotte Observer (North Carolina)
Brian “Scott” Carrigan was still in training six years ago when Charlotte Fire Capt. Scott Hunter wanted to make the Belmont man a member of Station 13.
An elite, 33-member team, Station 13 consists of firefighters trained to respond to hazardous materials emergencies.
Carrigan rode, with his fellow firefighters of his rank, in the back of the truck, pushing aside an opportunity to ride in the front when he became eligible for a promotion earlier this year.
On Friday, Carrigan’s black helmet -- chipped and stained with streaks of plaster -- rested on a waist-level post, next to his wooden casket.
More than 800 family members, friends and firefighters from several regional agencies attended his service at the Catawba Heights Baptist Church in Belmont.
The 35-year-old’s death was unexpected and untimely. Described as a funny, adventurous man, his Station 13 colleagues said they are certain Carrigan lived life to the fullest.
“That man in 35 years lived more than people who live to be 100,” said Cornel Lasco, an engineer with Station 13.
Hunter, who was Carrigan’s captain for six years, received a call early Tuesday from Carrigan’s wife, Jordan. She told him Carrigan was in the hospital.
Hunter arrived at Gaston Memorial and, hours later, was joined by 30 to 40 firefighters and fire officials from Charlotte, Belmont and the Gastonia Fire Department.
Carrigan died of pneumococcal sepsis that morning. Jordan Carrigan said her husband’s spleen had been removed two years ago. Doctors had warned the couple that Carrigan would need special treatment if he became sick.
Carrigan complained of a headache Monday night, his wife said Thursday. That headache turned into a high fever, sweats, abdominal pain and vomiting. The symptoms grew increasingly worse, she said.
He died 12 hours later at Gaston Memorial.
Like Hunter, Gastonia firefighter Mike McKay was at the hospital Tuesday. He and Carrigan joined Gastonia Fire in 1997.
“You just don’t expect one of your close friends to not be there anymore,” he said. “His job on Earth was done.”
An East Gaston High graduate, Carrigan joined the Belmont Fire Department as a volunteer in 1993, fire officials said. He rose to the rank of lieutenant in 1999. A year later, he left the Gastonia Fire Department to join Charlotte Fire.
Aside from being a devoted firefighter, Carrigan was also a devoted husband and father, Jordan Carrigan said. The couple met at an EMT training class seven years ago, she said Thursday. The couple have two sons -- Cole, 4, and Gage, 2.
“My 4-year-old says he hates daddy being in heaven. He wishes he was here with us. I think the shock of it isn’t in him yet,” Jordan Carrigan said Thursday. “Right now, I miss his embrace. I miss his security.”
Whenever the boys were at the station, “they’d follow him like a puppy,” Station 13 firefighter Shane Alexander said Friday.
Family members and friends say they’ll remember Carrigan’s sense of humor the most. Described as a practical joker, he would dress up in drag to get a laugh and enjoyed playing with the Camp Celebrate children, who are burn victims.
“He made life fun,” Jordan Carrigan said about her husband. “He was never really bothered by things. Where people would be upset by something, he’d say, ‘Who cares. It’s another day.’”