A Los Angeles Fire Department captain 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 this first day of the new year that we announce the death of LAFD Captain I George Roque, who passed away earlier today at an area hospital from complications of COVID-19.”
Roque, 57, was a 22-year veteran of the LAFD, assigned to Fire Station 97 in the Laurel Canyon/Mulholland area, Terrazas said.
He is survived by his wife and four children.
“On behalf of the men and women of the LAFD, I send my deepest and most heartfelt condolences to the Roque family and his friends and colleagues throughout the department,” Terrazas said.
Firefighter/paramedic Jose Perez was the LAFD's first death from the pandemic. He died on July 2020.
There have been 650 COVID-19-positive cases in the LAFD and about a dozen have required hospitalization, according to a Los Angeles Times story on Monday, when the first LAFD firefighters and paramedics received the Moderna vaccine.
