The Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Air and Wildland Division held a special 25-Year Anniversary Memorial at the Barton Heliport in Pacoima on Monday, April 2, 2018, to honor the life and legacy of Fire Fighter Paramedic Jeffrey Langley. Langley tragically lost his life when he fell during a technical rescue with Air Squad 8 in Topanga Creek State Park on March 30, 1993.
Fire Chief Daryl Osby and Langley’s mother, Karen Langley-Stephen, offered remembrances of a pioneering Air Squad paramedic and a son, gone too soon. Retired Fire Fighter Paramedic Layne Contreras, who was part of Langley’s crew, placed wreaths in his memory along with Chief Osby as Bagpiper Todd Emrick played “Amazing Grace.”
Langley is remembered for his professional contributions, including his assistance in the development of innovative helicopter medical devices that enabled paramedics to treat patients in-flight and for his involvement in developing “Helo-Swiftwater Rescue” procedures and equipment.
After his passing in 1993, the prestigious Higgins and Langley Award for Swiftwater Rescue was established to honor outstanding achievement in the technical rescue discipline of swiftwater and flood rescue. LACoFD dedicated its helicopter training tower as the “Jeffrey M. Langley Air Operations Memorial Training Tower” on December 18, 2000, to commemorate the courage of a beloved friend and colleague.