Members of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company remember 29-year-old paramedic Capt. Erik Steciak, who died in the line of duty Tuesday, as someone dedicated to mentoring cadets and younger members of the fire company, even on his days off.
"I think that's the biggest impact, and the biggest loss at the same time," Adam Siemek, a fire sergeant at the company's main firehouse on South Hickory Avenue, said Thursday.
Capt. Steciak, who lived in Columbia and was also volunteer captain with the West Friendship Volunteer Fire Department in Howard County, was hired as a paid paramedic by Bel Air in 2011, according to Bel Air Fire Chief Rick Davis.
"His passion for the fire service in general is what motivates a lot of people to go that extra mile to train a newer person to be the best that they can be," Davis said.
Siemek, who has been with the fire company since 2009, said Capt. Steciak rode the ambulance from the Hickory Avenue firehouse until a satellite firehouse opened on Patterson Mill Road in 2012. He then spent the majority of his paramedic shifts there.
He said Capt. Steciak "was one of the guys, one of the friends," and he interacted with members throughout the Bel Air Volunteer Fire company, which also operates a satellite firehouse in Forest Hill.
"He made himself a part of that brotherhood and that bond," Siemek recalled. "It wasn't just a job for him, it was family."
Fire Capt. Nick McGowan, of the Patterson Mill firehouse, said Capt. Steciak usually worked a paramedic shift each Tuesday.
"He was always one that would engage you in conversation when you came in," McGowan, who has been with Bel Air for six years and has spent about 45 years with various volunteer fire companies in Harford and Baltimore counties, said. "He would always say 'hello' to you."
McGowan said Capt. Steciak would work with members of the company's high school cadet program when they visited the firehouse for training. He even came up on several occasions when he had days off to help train cadets.
He said he would often see Capt. Steciak in the back of an ambulance with several cadets at a time, teaching them about the equipment.
"When they were coming in, he would take them under his wing," McGowan said.
McGowan described Capt. Steciak as "just an all-around nice guy, a good guy to have there to train people."
He said Capt. Steciak encouraged the cadets, as well as newer EMS workers, to continue their education, such as telling those who had their Emergency Medical Technician certifications to pursue paramedic classes.
"The younger people that he helped are having a tough time, because he was their mentor," McGowan said.
Davis said Capt. Steciak lived in Columbia, and he is survived by his mother and father and a twin brother. He was single and did not have any children.
Davis has met Capt. Steciak's brother when he visited the Bel Air fire company in the days following the accident, and he said the brother served two tours in Iraq with the military.
Davis also learned that Capt. Steciak had passions beyond the firehouse, such as chess, and was a member of a chess club.
'I never even knew he was in a chess club until a day ago," Davis said.
He said that riding the ambulance and the fire truck was Capt. Steciak's "whole MO."
Davis also praised Capt. Steciak's dedication to training new members.
"Erik would take them under his wing and train then them in the EMS side," the chief said. "On his time off, he would come back and do the same thing."
Siemek said Capt. Steciak would typically joke around and play video games with his fellow members of the company when they had down time at the firehouse.
"As soon as we got a call, and we went out, it was 100 percent business," he said.
Siemek noted Capt. Steciak would call hospitals and medical facilities to check on patients after returning from an emergency call.
"[He was] probably one of the most dedicated paramedics, and it was very evident that he loved what he did," Siemek said.
Critical incident stress management workers have visited the firehouse to aid members of the Bel Air company grieving the loss of Capt. Steciak. Black flags are also hanging from the front of the Hickory Avenue firehouse, and black bunting has been hung over the entrance doors to the Patterson Mill Station.
Davis, who works for BGE as an electric system operator, has taken several days off work to help his fire company deal with the loss.
"BGE was kind enough to let me leave work for a couple of days to let me wrap my head around this thing," he said.
Despite the loss, company personnel have continued responding to fire and EMS calls. A fire truck and ambulance left the Hickory Avenue firehouse within an hour of each other Thursday, as Davis was being interviewed.
"In the fire service, you don't have a second to breathe before somebody else has gotten hurt, and you need to go help them," Davis explained.
Mutual aid companies will be staffing the main firehouse from Friday, Jan. 16 to Sunday, Jan. 18, as members take off to attend viewings and a funeral for Capt. Steciak, however.
He said he has spent time giving members details of the accident in which a company utility vehicle skidded on a sloping driveway and struck Capt. Steciak, leaving him with grave injuries. He died later at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center.
Davis said Capt. Steciak would want his fire and EMS comrades to keep working.
"Let's get back on the fire tucks and do what we know he wants us to do," Davis said.