California Firefighter Drowns in Pacific Ocean, Four Years After His Father’s On-Duty Death
A California firefighter, Caeden Laffan, 25, tragically drowned in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Thursday, June 27. This incident occurred four years after his father, also a firefighter, died while on duty, the Oakland Fire Department announced on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Laffan was in San Diego for the California Summer Firefighter Games. San Diego Fire Chief Colin Stowell reported that Laffan died around 2 a.m. near the Pacific Pier south of the La Jolla neighborhood.
The San Diego Police Department received a call at 1:56 a.m., prompting San Diego Lifeguards and US Coast Guard crews to search the coastal area near Grand Avenue. Laffan's body was discovered north of the pier around 4:15 a.m., according to FOX 5/KUSI.
Laffan had been swimming with a friend in the ocean, and alcohol might have been involved, said SD Fire-Rescue Lt. Rick Romero. Before he went missing, Laffan was on the shore with friends and a family member. He then entered the ocean about chest to waist deep, took a couple of strokes, and vanished.
"We searched for a couple of hours with a rescue boat, land units, and a Coast Guard helicopter," Lt. Romero said. "We weren't able to locate him. We were doing our last patrol on the shoreline, and our lifeguard sergeant spotted him. He had washed onto the beach on the north side of the pier. Unfortunately, incidents happen. And it's just a sad story." Laffan graduated from Oakland's Recruit Academy class in 2019.
“Caeden Laffan was a young enthusiastic member of the Oakland Fire Department, with a bright future ahead of him, and we’re all heartbroken today after learning of this tragic event,” Oakland Fire Chief Damon Covington said in a release. “Our hearts go out to the entire Laffan family, and all who know him, worked with him, and loved him."
San Diego Fire Chief Stowell expressed condolences, saying, "Although Caeden wasn’t a firefighter in San Diego, all of our firefighters are part of our family. I just wanted to give my condolences to him and my pledge to make sure that he knew we would treat his firefighter like one of our own down here."
Laffan's father, Sean Laffan, also served in the Oakland Fire Department as an assistant chief until his death in 2020 from a heart attack while on duty. Sean was 42.
Following his father's death, Laffan spoke about his father's legacy and his own aspirations to follow in his footsteps. “I knew I wanted to be an Oakland firefighter because of my dad. He inspired me the second I got out of high school to pursue my EMT and paramedic license,” Laffan said. "We had about 10 years we could have worked together in the fire department. It got cut short to a year but I loved every second of it, that's for sure."
