Paramedic from Columbia Killed in Harford County

In the aftermath of a line-of-duty death Tuesday that resulted in the loss of a Howard County paramedic, the community is grieving.

Paramedic Erik Steciak, 29, who was a captain with the West Friendship Volunteer Fire Company, was killed Tuesday afternoon while on the job in Bel Air, where he was a paid paramedic with the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company, according to a statement from Harford County Emergency Management.

Steciak lived in Columbia, according to Maryland Fire News.

Related: Bel Air Paramedic Killed in the Line of Duty

Steciak was responding to a motorist in distress whose vehicle had slid off the road and onto an embankment in the 300 block of Patterson Mill Road in Bel Air Tuesday afternoon.

A Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company utility vehicle hit Steciak, who was taken in grave condition to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association spokesman Rich Gardiner.

Approximately 100 people came together before 7 p.m. at the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company station to offer support for members, and a critical incident stress management team was available to provide assistance, Gardiner said.

“This is extremely difficult,” Gardiner told The Aegis. “...it’s a devastating feeling.”

The Harford County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the crash as a non-traffic-related incident in which weather was a major contributing factor, Gardiner said.

See Also: Bel Air First Responder Involved in Patterson Mill Road Crash

While the investigation into Steciak’s death continues, the community is grieving the loss of someone who has looked out for its own.

Steciak has been a paramedic since 2011 with Bel Air and with West Friendship since 2005, according to his CV. Before joining those two companies, he was a member of the Ellicott City Volunteer Fire Department.

“On behalf of County Executive Barry Glassman and Director Edward Hopkins, the Harford County Department of Emergency Services expresses our sincere sympathy to the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company and the West Friendship Volunteer Fire Company of Howard County on the tragic loss of Paramedic Erik Steciak this afternoon.,” the Harford County Department of Emergency Services said in a statement Tuesday night.

“Our thoughts and prayers are extended to Paramedic Steciak’s immediate family, fire service family and loved ones,” the statement said.