I'm not completely clear on what you are trying to do ... but you probably need that code within the .map method. Like this:
export class UserComponent implements OnInit {
  existingUser: any = {};
  ngOnInit() {
    this.activatedRoute.params.subscribe((params: Params) => {
      this.id = params['id'];
      console.log(this.id);
      this.db.object(`/users/${this.id}`).map(value => {
        console.log(value);
        this.existingUser = value;
        console.log(this.existingUser);
         this.userForm = this.formBuilder.group({
          first_name: [this.existingUser.first_name, Validators.required],
        })
      })
    });
  };
}
Or put that code in a method that is called from here.
UPDATE: Here is an example from my application that does something similar:
ngOnInit(): void {
    this.productForm = this.fb.group({
        productName: ['', [Validators.required,
                           Validators.minLength(3),
                           Validators.maxLength(50)]],
        productCode: ['', Validators.required],
        starRating: ['', NumberValidators.range(1, 5)],
        tags: this.fb.array([]),
        description: ''
    });
    // Read the product Id from the route parameter
    this.route.params.subscribe(
        params => {
            let id = +params['id'];
            this.getProduct(id);
        }
    );
}
getProduct(id: number): void {
    this.productService.getProduct(id)
        .subscribe(
            (product: IProduct) => this.onProductRetrieved(product),
            (error: any) => this.errorMessage = <any>error
        );
}
onProductRetrieved(product: IProduct): void {
    if (this.productForm) {
        this.productForm.reset();
    }
    this.product = product;
    if (this.product.id === 0) {
        this.pageTitle = 'Add Product';
    } else {
        this.pageTitle = `Edit Product: ${this.product.productName}`;
    }
    // Update the data on the form
    this.productForm.patchValue({
        productName: this.product.productName,
        productCode: this.product.productCode,
        starRating: this.product.starRating,
        description: this.product.description
    });
    this.productForm.setControl('tags', this.fb.array(this.product.tags || []));
}
You can find the full set of code here: https://github.com/DeborahK/Angular2-ReactiveForms (in the APM folder)