Eric Merrill, who retired less than a month ago retired from the Rio Verde Fire District as deputy chief, died Saturday morning, May 25 in a two-vehicle crash in the far West Valley near his home.

Merrill and his adult son were in a vehicle that collided with a second vehicle at Palo Verde and Yuma roads in Buckeye, Ariz.

Merrill’s son was hospitalized with what were described as non-life threatening injuries. An occupant of the second vehicle was also injured, but no condition was stated.

Details of the crash were not immediately available.

Rio Verde Fire District held a celebratory send-off for Merrill on May 1. He first came to Rio Verde in 1992, two years before the Fire District was formed. At that time he worked for Rural/Metro Corp. and prior to Rio Verde he worked in Scottsdale and 11 years in Sun City.

His career in emergency medical services goes back to 1978 in California. He became a paramedic in 1980 when the industry was still trying to figure out what a paramedic was.

When the Fire District chose to sever ties with Rural/Metro in 2004 Merrill was asked to stay with the district to manage emergency medical services. His presence in that role was a positive for the district and its efforts to provide excellent emergency medical services to residents.

Merrill led the small size fire district to earn a lot of “firsts” to its credit. It was the first agency to have electronic patient reporting, the first Premier EMS Agency for Arizona and has been first to receive a number of drugs to be used in the field. The District is also the only agency to have Mayo Hospital as its base.

Under his leadership the district was able to introduce many sophisticated technical innovations that have benefited the citizens of the district.

Merrill enlisted in the Marine Corp when he was 17 and was discharged from the Corp as a sergeant. He was a marksman.

Merrill was a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, The Arizona Fire Chiefs Association and The National Association of EMS Educators. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in EMS/Hospital Management and held National Certification as a Certified Public Manager.

Eric is survived by his wife Deana, his son Steven (also injured in the accident), and daughter Alyssa. There has been a “Go Fund Me” page set up to help the family. To donate please visit - https://www.gofundme.com/f/rvfd-eric-merrill-family-fund.

No funeral dates are set at this time.