{"id":1306438,"date":"2019-03-21T16:08:36","date_gmt":"2019-03-21T22:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaildaily.com\/?p=452210"},"modified":"2019-03-21T16:08:36","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T22:08:36","slug":"eric-hill-a-life-spent-saving-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/eric-hill-a-life-spent-saving-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Hill \u2014 a life spent saving others"},"content":{"rendered":"
Eric Hill lost his life while at work with a Colorado Department of Transportation maintenance crew last weekend. His memorial service is planned Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Eagle River Center.<\/strong>
Special to the Daily<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GYPSUM \u2014 Eric Hill spent his life saving people as a longtime local firefighter, a member of the U.S. Air Force and a devoted family man.<\/p>\n

But irony can be astoundingly cruel. While his final moments were spent surrounded by his comrades from the Gypsum Fire Department, he wasn\u2019t among their number. Instead, Eric\u2019s fellow firefighters were responding to the scene of the accident that claimed his life March 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was able to save so many people, but they couldn\u2019t save him,\u201d Hill\u2019s wife Cissy said.<\/p>\n

Eric\u2019s loved ones \u2014 and there are scads of them, including family, friends, and colleagues \u2014  are struggling mightily with the aftermath of the tragic accident that took his life. Cissy knows Eric was a stickler for safety, especially during his years with the in Eagle and Gypsum fire departments.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis co-workers would get irritated with him sometimes, because he always wanted them to be safe,\u201d said daughter Kasie Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main purpose, in his mind, was to teach and educate and make people better,\u201d said Brad Jones, one of his longtime colleagues and friends. \u201cHe knew it was dangerous work so he wanted people to double check to make sure to do things right. His end game was always to keep people from doing something wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

When his father, Rick Hill, claimed the lunch box Eric had brought to work last Saturday, as a member of a Colorado Department of Transportation maintenance team, he found the state\u2019s laminated safety card inside.<\/p>\n

Sometimes there just aren\u2019t answers. This is one of those times.<\/p>\n

The one and only<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Rick and Cathy Hill welcomed Eric to the world on Feb. 29, 40 years ago. His leap year birthday was a harbinger of the unique individual he would become. The Hills moved from California when Eric was 4 and because a leap year baby, he celebrated his first real birthday as a Coloradan. Rick said both his boys spent their childhood running and riding in the mountains.<\/p>\n

Eric attended local schools and graduated with the Eagle Valley High School Class of 1986. Along the way, he earned the nickname \u201cHillbilly\u201d and his younger brother Jeff said the statute of limitations has expired on some of their more memorable antics. While her son was generally stealthy in his teenage exploits, Cathy vividly recalled one particular adventure.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe put our Suburban in the river to haul out a dead horse for some kids with the FFA (Future Farmers of America),\u201d she said. \u201cThat was right after he got his license.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduation, Eric went to work for Beaver Creek for a couple of years, which gave him the opportunity to spend lots of time on the hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was an extremely fast skier,\u201d said Rick. \u201cEric liked to push the envelope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eric hoped his work at Beaver Creek could lead to a position with the resort fire department but after a couple of years, he decided to try a different strategy and he enlisted in the Air Force.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted to go into the Air Force and do firefighting. He wanted to go to the Beaver Creek fire department. He was fire department all the way,\u201d said Rick. \u201cThat\u2019s dedication to your job.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, once he enlisted, the Air Force assigned Eric to an armored detail. He served for six years and was stationed in England for much of that time, which coincided with Operation Desert Storm. When the military action broke out, Eric sought assignment as a parajumper or a helicopter nose gunner. His eyesight prevented him from those jobs so he worked armoring A-10 planes with the bombs they would take to the war zone.<\/p>\n

Cissy recalled a story Eric told from his service days about the time a bomb dropped from a plane while the craft was still in the hangar. Everyone ran for cover, that is everyone except Eric.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told them \u2018Why are you running? If it was a live bomb, we would all be dead now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Eric was willing to join the fighting troops in Iraq, but when he learned that would involve a four-year enlistment, he opted to leave military service. Following his honorable discharge, he settled in Albequerque, New Mexico. He went to work for an air conditioning company and one of his co-workers \u2014 his wife Cissy \u2014 caught his eye. The couple would have celebrated their 25th annivesary this May.<\/p>\n

After a couple of years in Albequerque, Eric decided it was time to come home to the Eagle Valley. For a while Eric worked at the Eagle Post Office and for Premier Electric. He also made a move that would define his professional life \u2014 he signed up as a volunteer for the Gypsum Fire Department. After a few months, he decided to volunteer in Eagle as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cEric was happily volunteering at both fire departments for awhile,\u201d Jones said. \u201cBut that was Eric for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cissy said a couple of years after he started as a volunteer, Eric was hired by the Eagle department. Later he also took a paying gig at Gypsum and for many years his weekly work schedule had him working two full shifts at Eagle and one at Gypsum. At one point he was also on the Eagle County Airport Fire Rescue squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just wanted to help people. He just wanted to be in the thick of it,\u201d Cissy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would be the first one out the door or out of the truck moving toward what was going on,\u201d said Jones. \u201cHe would do the high risk job first, before he would want to put people in a bad place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eric was also dedicated to learning all he could and sharing what he knew.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe took every option they offered \u2014 ropes, climbing, water rescue,\u201d his dad said.<\/p>\n

Eric was also a certified wildland firefighter. \u201cThe wildland firefighting was the worst part. He would be gone for 14 days straight,\u201d Cissy said. His wildland duties took him to California, Washington, Oregon and all over Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said the Oregon fires were different from anthing else because the fire was at the top of the trees and they would be standing on the ground and the fire would go right over the top of them,\u201d Rick said.<\/p>\n

Eric never knew where wildland firefighting would take him. One time, his son Tyler was walking through a city park in Fort Collins during wildfire season when he saw it was being used as a staging area for crews from around the state. He surveyed the scene and spotted the Eagle fire truck.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even know he was there,\u201d said Tyler, but Eric was pleasantly surprised when his son dropped by to greet the crew.<\/p>\n

Highs and Lows<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Eric had countless firefighting stories to tell.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were just so many, it is hard to remember them,\u201d said Cissy. \u201cThere are some great stories and some super sad stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Eric\u2019s favorite tales revolved around a backcountry rescue of Pete Nolan, the longtime athletic director at EVHS. Pete had been hunting in a remote location when he broke his hip. Eric wasn\u2019t on duty at the time, but when he heard the call go out about an injured hunter who needed to be evacuated, he figured the crew might have a hard time locating the hunting camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one knew how to get up there, but Eric knew exactly where it was,\u201d said Cissy. \u201cEric rode in with the ambulance crew, told them how to get to where a staging area should be and then got on the four-wheeler and told the EMTs exactly how to get to the location. When he got there, he found out it was Pete Nolan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was in the middle of a storm and the EMT in charge wanted to camp and ride out the storm,\u201d Cissy continued. \u201cPete begged Eric not to let that happen. Pete wanted to get out and go home, not to the hospital, but home. Eric let him know it would be very painful, but he would bring him down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cissy said Eric and the EMT got into a heated argument about that promise, but eventually the crew brought Pete out through the storm and took him to the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cPete was so thankful to Eric. He told Eric if it wasn\u2019t for him he may not have made it,\u201d Cissy said.<\/p>\n

Not all of Eric\u2019s firefighting or rescue stories had such a happy ending. There was a time when he had to crawl into a van on I-70 to search for survivors. The vehicle was carrying the members of a mariachi band and their children when it was involved in a lethal accident.<\/p>\n

One of Eric\u2019s worst days on the job was when he responded to a call involving the 2-year-old son of a high school friend. Eric\u2019s own son, Brodie, was 2 at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe job of firefighting around the Eagle Valley was hard on him because he grew up here and knew the people,\u201d Rick said.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t imagine the emotional toll it took on him,\u201d Cathy said. \u201cBut he was our rock. He was so steady and so present for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Devastating loss<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cissy always told Eric\u2019s fellow firefighters that she expected them to bring her husband home safely at the end of a shift. For more than 16 years, they were able to do that. He retired as a full-time firefighter last year, but he still worked part-time in Gypsum along with his new job with CDOT.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething that I always respected about Eric was he was a natural leader, by example,\u201d said Gypsum Fire Chief Justin Kirkland. \u201cBecause he was so motivated and dedicated, everyone always wanted to be on his shift.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of the life-and-death nature of the work, Kirkland said firefighting isn\u2019t just a job. It is a family. Cissy agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn all reality. Firefighting was his first wife. I was his second,\u201d she said. But she stressed Eric was also a dedicated family man who loved his children and his grandchildren.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was always chasing one of his three kids around somewhere, as long as I knew him,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

Eric\u2019s fire department family ties were very tight, as evidenced last Saturday. Eric\u2019s CDOT co-workers were already attempting to revive him when the four-man Gypsum Fire crew arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see him in a situation where we felt it was hopeless was just devasting to all of us,\u201d Kirkland said. \u201cYou spend decades saving other people and then you can\u2019t save one of your own. That is just something no one should have to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n

After they left the scene of the accident, members of the fire crew knew they had to perform another difficult job last Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe duty crew from the call told Cissy about the accident. It was his fire department family who informed his family,\u201d Kirkland said.<\/p>\n

Eric\u2019s fire department family has also mobilized to organize logistics for his memorial service on March 23, bringing food for his family and even helping mark Brodie\u2019s 10th birthday. Eric\u2019s son turned 10 yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to know what they can do,\u201d Cissy said. \u201cCan anyone perform a miracle?\u201d<\/p>\n

As they grapple with their fierce grief, Cissy urged members of the community to treasure their own loved ones every day. She hopes that Eric\u2019s life of service is his community legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like people to remember how happy he was,\u201d Cissy said. \u201cNot only was he an amazing firefighter, but he was a loving husband and father and a wonderful son and brother. He was well loved.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Vail Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Hill lost his life while at work with a Colorado Department of Transportation maintenance crew last weekend. His memorial service is planned Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Eagle River Center.Special to the Daily GYPSUM \u2014 Eric Hill spent his life saving people as a longtime local firefighter, a member of the U.S. Air […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1306438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 11:20:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1306438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1306438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1306438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1306438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}