We lost Battalion Chief Garry Key to Covid in February, just two months after losing another member to COVID. He was our longest serving member, having been a volunteer for a remarkable 36 years. Chief Key was a US Army retiree and a former deputy sheriff.

Chief Key was a caring person, willing to give himself to helping others, which is how we believe he contracted COVID. As emergency responders, we still answer calls for service and have contact with the public in other ways. While we wear personal protective equipment, this reduces our risk but does not totally eliminate it.

As such we are treating Chief Key’s death as a line of duty death – one where a beloved member has given his life in service to others.

His passing is very saddening in many ways. It is an irreplaceable loss to those who loved him as well as the loss of an experienced first responder with so much left to offer.