LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The captain of the Los Angeles Fire Department on Friday became the second of the department’s firefighters to die from COVID-19.
Chief Ralph M. Terrazas issued a statement, saying, “It is with a heavy heart on the first day of the new year that we announce the death of LAFD Captain I George Roque, who passed away earlier today. at a district hospital from COVID19 complications. “
Roque, 57, a 22-year veteran of the LAFD, was assigned to 97th Fire Station in the Laurel Canyon / Mulholland area, Terrazas said.
His wife and four children are still alive.
“On behalf of the men and women of the LAFD, I extend my deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Roque’s family and friends and colleagues throughout the region,” Terrazas said.
Firefighter / paramedic Jose Perez was the LAFD’s first death from pandemic. He died in July, 2020. There have been 650 COVID-19-positive cases in the LAFD and about a dozen have been in need of hospitalization, according to the Los Angeles Times story Monday, when the first firefighters LAFD and paramedics of the Moderna vaccine.