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 Flags at fire stations throughout Slidell were lowered to half-staff Monday in memory of an off-duty firefighter who apparently drowned in a horseback riding accident Sunday. Eric Blakely, 31, described by colleagues as a fearless "gung-ho" firefighter, was riding across a pond north of Slidell about 2:30 p.m. when his horse tossed him and a friend into the water, authorities said. The friend and two other men riding their own horses searched the 5-foot-deep pond, but they could not save Blakely, whose body was found nearly four hours later by a St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office dive team. As rescue efforts turned to recovery, firefighters dispatched to the scene made the somber realization that the victim was a friend and co-worker. "It was real frustrating and emotional because there wasn't anything that anybody could do," Slidell area fire department spokesman Gary Hathorn said. "We deal with these kinds of situations on an almost daily basis. It's never easy, but it's especially tough when you lose one of your own." Deputies declared the death an accidental drowning and have closed their investigation, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Tiffany Tate said. Coroner Peter Galvan's office did not return calls seeking comment on the cause of death and whether an autopsy had been performed. Blakely, who was married and had no children, had been with the fire department six years and was recently assigned to the new fire station on Brown's Switch Road, where he was part of a unit specializing in rescues and car-wreck extrication. "He will be sorely missed," Hathorn said. "He was a champion of a guy and a very aggressive, gung-ho firefighter. The entire fire department is in mourning." Fire Prevention Chief Chris Kaufman called Blakely a "model employee." "He took every bit of training that was offered," Kaufman said. "He was not afraid of anything and served as a very positive role model for new firefighters." Hathorn said Blakely, who lived at 60087 Javery St. west of Slidell, owned the horse he was riding and often rode it near the pond in a wooded area near an old sandpit on Highway Department Road off U.S. 11, a mile north of Slidell. "He was an experienced rider, and he knew the terrain very well," Hathorn said. "It looks like it was just a freak accident." Authorities did not have the names of the three men riding with Blakely, but Hathorn said he talked to them Sunday. "They said he went down and never resurfaced," Hathorn said. "One of them said he had a hold of Eric at one point but had to let go because Eric was pulling him under." He said some of Blakely's co-workers have been left wondering whether he had been trampled by the horse or was trapped by debris at the bottom of the pond. "You hear a lot of people saying things like, 'If the water was just 5 feet deep, I can't understand why he couldn't just stand up,' " Hathorn said. "We might never have the answers to those questions." Blakely's death was the second fatal accident in that area in the past four months. On May 26, a 12-year-old Slidell boy was killed when an all-terrain vehicle overturned on him in the sandpit. The boy and his 15-year-old brother were riding the ATV up a steep hill when the vehicle flipped and landed on the 12-year-old, who died at the scene, deputies said. Friends have set up a fund to help Blakely's widow, Christina, with funeral and living expenses. Donations to the Eric Blakely Memorial Fund can be dropped off or mailed to any branch of Parish National Bank, Hathorn said. . . . . . . . Paul Rioux can be reached at prioux@timespicayune.com or (985) 645-2852. Lifesaving Resources Inc. - www.lifesaving.com - 603/563-8330 |
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