A memorial service was held Thursday for a Los Angeles County Firefighter who was shot and killed by a colleague at their Agua Dulce station earlier this month.
The private service for firefighter specialist Tory Carlon was attended by family, friends and colleagues at The Forum in Inglewood.
The 44-year-old veteran of the Fire Department gave more than 20 years of service to the community.
L.A. County Fire Department Chief Daryl Osby spoke about Carlon at the memorial.
“What I can say definitively is that the Los Angeles County Fire Department will never be the same without him,” Osby said. “He was a great employee. He stood for all the department’s core values of caring, commitment, community, courage, integrity and teamwork.”
Osby said that Carlon started off as an explorer and spent some time with the U.S. Forest Service before choosing between the Los Angeles and Ventura County fire departments.
Carlon is survived by his wife Heidi and their three daughters.
He loved spending his free time with family and close friends, the Fire Department shared in a news release.
Coaching his daughters’ softball teams and taking his family to the lake to water ski and wakeboard were listed among his favorite pastimes.
“I looked up to him in so many ways. He was my best friend. We had such a special daddy daughter relationship,” daughter Joslyn Carlon said. “I don’t know where I would honestly be in life today if it wasn’t for him guiding me and teaching me.”
Carlon was fatally shot by an off-duty colleague who came into the Agua Dulce station and opened fire on June 1. A fire captain at the station was critically wounded in the shooting.
The gunman later took his own life.
A flag ceremony in honor of Carlon was held Tuesday at Fire Station 131. Carlon was assigned to the station early in his career, according to a post on the agency’s Instagram account.
The flag used in the ceremony was presented to his family during Thursday’s memorial service.
“He will be deeply missed by those who knew him,” the Fire Department stated.
