HERO Act Signed into Law

For Lisa Higgins, the nightmare began on a cold night in January.

That’s when her husband, Chris Higgins, died fighting a fire at a home in Laurel. Chris Higgins was a long-time Montgomery County Firefighter assigned to the Burtonsville firehouse and the father of two young children. His death was a crushing emotional blow to his wife and kids, but then things got worse.

When Chris Higgins died, his family lost his income, and because of delays in paperwork and the autopsy report, it took six months for his death benefits to kick in.

“We were living on zero income. I was trying to, but I couldn’t work because I mentally wasn’t there,” Lisa Higgins said.

“She was surviving on donations from charitable organizations,” MCFRS Lt. Scot Kitner said.

Kitner was aboard the fire truck and fought the fire with Higgins the night he died. He was devastated when he learned of Lisa’s struggles.

“It made me cry," he said. “We collected money as a shift to help with bills.”

Kitner also reached out Councilmember Evan Glass, who started work on a bill that would become known as the HERO Act to both increase benefits and get them out faster for the families of first responders who die in the line of duty.

“The county should never have waited months to provide the resources that were needed that were owed that were earned by Christopher’s service,” Glass said.

On Monday, inside her husband’s firehouse, in front of a ladder truck which now bears his name, Lisa Higgins sat next to County Executive Marc Elrich as he signed the bill into law.

You can watch the WJLA story here.