Fire chief dies from COVID-19
United States Fire Administration
The U.S. Fire Administration has announced the official on-duty death of Chief Robert “Rob” Orkies, 55, of the Zoneton Fire Protection District on December 11, 2020.
Chief Robert “Rob” Orkies developed COVID-19 while on-duty from a fellow firefighter with a known case of the virus. He passed away on Friday, December 11, 2020.
Tribute is being paid to Chief Orkies at http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/
To date, 83 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2020. Year-to-date and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/ff_fatality_reports.html
Fatality status is provisional and may change as USFA contacts State Fire Marshals to verify fatality incident information.
