Baltimore - Jewish Firefighter Dies Following April House Fire

Reisterstown volunteer firefighter, Gene Kirchner, died early Thursday afternoon at Shock Trauma.

Kirchner, 25, was critically injured in an April 24 house fire at 19 Hanover Road in Reisterstown. Kirchner was one of the first-arriving responders and went into the burning house to save a man trapped on the second floor. That man, Steven Starr, 58, a resident of the home, died of injuries sustained in the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Kirchner will receive a full firefighter funeral at 1 p.m. Sunday at Har Sinai Congregation, located at 2905 Walnut Avenue in Owings Mills. Burial will be at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Timonium, according to Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman Elise Armacost.

Baltimore County Fire Department Chief John J. Hohman spoke on behalf of Reisterstown Volunteer on Thursday as members were too distraught to speak. Flags at the station, located at 108 Main Street, were flown at half-staff and a memorial sat in front of the station’s door.

“Gene’s efforts were nothing short of heroic and our hearts go out to his family,” Hohman said.

Kirchner, of Reisterstown, had been a member at Reisterstown Volunteer since he was a 14-year-old junior firefighter. He has been a certified firefighter since he was 16.

“I know I speak for all of our citizens when I express deepest sympathies to Gene’s family and to the Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Company,” County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said in a statement. “Sometimes we take for granted the willingness of our first responders to lay down their lives for us. Today, we’re reminded just how much we owe them.”

According to Armacost, the preliminary investigation of the fire has not revealed any signs of foul play. Kirchner was among those on the scene battling the three-alarm blaze, which was reported at 1:09 a.m. Armacost said a mayday was called for a firefighter down on the second floor at 1:29 a.m. He was removed from the home and transported to Northwest Hospital for medical treatment. He was then transferred to Shock Trauma for additional treatment. Smoke detectors were present in the home. Investigators have not determined if they were operational.

Kirchner’s twin brother, Will, is an EMS captain at Reisterstown; his sister, EMT/FF Shelley Brezitki, also volunteers at the station.

Kirchner is the first firefighter in Baltimore County to die in the line of duty since Lutherville Volunteer Firefighter Mark Falkenhan died battling an apartment fire on Jan. 19, 2011. Prior to that, there had not been a line-of-duty death in Baltimore County since 1984.