Community Honoring Paramedic Killed While On The Job

BEL AIR, Md. (WJZ) -- Black flags are flying at fire stations across Harford County after an EMT and volunteer firefighter is tragically killed trying to help a patient.

WJZ"s Rochelle Ritchie has the details.

The 29-year-old medic dedicated his life to helping people. His death marks the second death since 1974 for the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company.

Twenty-nine-year-old Erik Steciak will be missed by all who knew him.

"He was a good, young, hard working paramedic," Rich Gardner with Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company said.

Tuesday afternoon, Steciak and other EMT's were called to a home on Patterson Mill Road to transport a woman to the hospital who had just been in an accident.

"She had walked back to a resident on Patterson Mill Road," Gardner said. "When the fire department got to that location, they felt the road was too dangerous to pass and they wanted a four-wheel vehicle."

Patterson Mill Road, where the accident took place, is now clear, but officials tell us it was covered with snow and ice on Tuesday, which they believe contributed to this incident.

Officials say a four-wheeler with a plow came to clear the road when it started to slide down the icy steep roadway, ultimately hitting Steciak.

"Harford County Sheriff's Office is conducting an investigation, but preliminary results indicate that weather was the leading factor in the cause of the accident," Gardner said.

Steciak was taken to the hospital where he died. He was a paid paramedic with the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company since 2011 and a volunteer firefighter at the West Friendship Volunteer Fire Department in Howard County.

Black flags blow in the cold wind as a sign of mourning.

"It hits close to home and is a sobering reality of what our job is really all about," Gardner said.

Officials say the man who was operating the four-wheeler is having a really tough time, but is being supported by the fire department.

Steciak leaves behind his mother and a twin brother.

His funeral arrangements can be found here.

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