LUBBOCK, Texas — January 11 will be six years since the death of Firefighter Lt. Eric Hill and Officer Nicholas Reyna. They were assisting with a crash on I-27 when they were struck and killed by a driver who lost control of their car. Matt Dawson, a firefighter and paramedic, who was also severely injured in this crash, died in November 2023. Eric Hill’s father, Mark, said the memories of this tragic day remain fresh in his mind.
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Last September, a similar crash occurred involving a semi-truck and two sheriff’s deputies, where the semi-truck narrowly missed the deputies. Mark said when he heard about this crash, all of the emotions from that cold January day came flooding back.
“We remember the phone call, we remember all the things that happened the emotions… those memories come flooding back in just a moment when things like that happen…it’s just all right back all of a sudden,” Mark said.
He says it’s incidents like the one that took his son and the one last fall that led him and his wife to create the 5-5-5 initiative. The core message of this initiative is to remind drivers to move over and slow down for first responders…