Former Ellicott City Fire Department EMT Killed

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

Paramedic Erik Steciak, a member of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company and West Friendship Volunteer Fire Department, was killed Tuesday afternoon in Bel Air, according to a statement from Harford County Emergency Services. Before joining those two companies, he was a member of the Ellicott City Volunteer Fire Department.

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 at approximately 1:50 p.m. in the 300 block of Patterson Mill Road in Bel Air when he was hit.

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 gathered at the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company station Tuesday evening to offer support for members, and a critical incident stress management team was available to provide assistance, Gardiner told Patch.

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

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

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.

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 with Bel Air since 2011 and with West Friendship since 2005, according to his CV. From 2003 to 2005, he was an EMT with 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.”

Related:

• Bel Air Paramedic Killed in the Line of Duty
• Bel Air First Responder Involved in Patterson Mill Road Crash
• Bel Air Under Winter Weather Advisory Tuesday

Pictured, Erik Steciak was a member of both the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company and West Friendship Volunteer Fire Department in Howard County. Screenshot from YouTube.