Community Mourns Death Of Reisterstown Volunteer Firefighter

More than 200 people lined Main Street near the Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Company Sunday to mourn the death of Firefighter Gene Kirchner.

Kirchner died May 2, more than a week after sustaining injuries during a fire less than one-half mile from the station he began working in as a teen.

in that April 24 blaze after firefighters rescued him from the second floor of a burning three-story Victorian home in the unit block of Hanover Road. Four other residents of building escaped unharmed.

Kirchner, 25, began his career with the Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Company when he was only 14.

Funeral Services were held Sunday afternoon at Har Sinai Congregation. Kirchner was buried at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens.

A scholarship fund has been set up Kirchner's memory at Owings Mills High School. Kirchner graduated from the school in 2006. Donations can be sent to Owings Mills High School, 124 Tollgate Road, Owings Mills, MD  21117.

Kirchner's death is the first in the line of duty for a Baltimore County volunteer firefighter since 2011. Mark Falkenhan, a firefighter with the Lutherville Volunteer Fire Company died while fighting an apartment fire in Parkville.

Read more:

• Baltimore County: Reisterstown Firefighter in Critical Condition after Blaze
• Volunteer Firefighters Rally In Wake Of Injury
• Assistant Chief: Injured Firefighter Is Key Responder for Company
• Chief: Gene Kirchner Was Searching for Man Trapped in Fire
• UPDATE: Reisterstown Firefighter Gene Kirchner Dies in Hospital