Texas Paramedic/Firefighter Mourned by Community After Death

Firefighters are mourning the loss of one of their own who died unexpectedly Tuesday.

First responders were called to a health-related call Tuesday morning in Killeen at the residence of Joel Lytle, 37.

Lytle was a firefighter with the Harker Heights Fire Department, and before that, spent nine years with the Killeen Fire Department.

“I got to know Joel Lytle in the brief one year he was with us, and he cast a giant footprint in our department and the city,” Harker Heights Fire Chief Jack Collier said at an employee recognition ceremony already scheduled Tuesday.

Mayor Rob Robinson called for a moment of silence before Tuesday’s ceremony.

HHFD firefighters wore black bands across their badges and flags were flown at half-staff, as members of the HHFD and Harker Heights Police Department guard escorted Lytle’s body to Dallas.

Members of the Killeen Fire Department also are feeling the loss, Deputy Chief Kenneth Hawthorne said.

Lytle joined Killeen Fire Department in August 2005 and served the department until December 2014 when he went to HHFD.

While at KFD, Lytle served as a firefighter and paramedic, was part of the rescue team and was one of the department’s fitness coordinators who helped assess others during annual physical tests, Hawthrone said.

“During his time with us, he married and had a child — both of whom he was proud of,” Hawthorne said. “He was a family man, and I think that led to his decision to go to Harker Heights.”

Though members of the department and those who responded to Tuesday’s call are affected, Hawthrone said Killeen firefighters are committed to being there for the Lytle family.

In a December 2012 interview with the Herald, Lytle spoke about how all firefighter families were close because of the firefighters’ work schedule.

In January 2013, he helped organize a fundraiser for a fellow colleague previously diagnosed with lymphoma.

“All of us here, we’re like a brotherhood. He’s our family. We take care of our own,” Lytle previously said.

Funeral services for Lytle are pending. Area firefighters are standing watch until the time of burial, officials said.