‘No one is safe’: Officials urge virus precautions as KCFD mourns 2 deaths over weekend
Kansas City officials again urged residents to help stop the spread of the coronavirus Sunday after it led to the deaths of two more members of the fire department over the weekend.
“No one is safe in our community and no one is safe on our job from this virus,” said Tim Dupin, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 42.
During a news conference on the steps of City Hall, Mayor Quinton Lucas called the virus a “significant threat” to public safety and urged people to follow the city’s latest COVID-19 guidance. The virus, he said, is not “made up.”
“This is about actually trying to save lives,” Lucas said.
The news conference came hours after officials announced 45-year-old Scott Davidson, a communications specialist and paramedic, died Sunday morning from COVID-19. The day before, fire Capt. Robert “Bobby” Rocha died after contracting the virus on the job.
Davidson’s death marked the third in the fire department since the pandemic began. In March, EMT Billy Birmingham was the first person in the city to die in the line of duty.
Fire Chief Donna Lake said all three were tenured employees. There were no words for the men’s losses, she said.
“Everybody is devastated,” Lake said. “We’re going to struggle with morale for a while on how we recover.”
Since March, 201 members of the department have tested positive for the virus. Currently, 73 are considered “active” infections.
To ensure the department has adequate staffing, fire leadership mandated a mask order in October, allowing members to continue working if they come in contact with someone who is infected, so long as they wear N95 or surgical masks, Lake said. Had the department not mandated mask wearing, about 300 employees would be quarantined, she told reporters.
Before the mask mandate, firefighters and EMTs had already been required to wear masks when they came in contact with patients.
The department, Lake said, has been “at capacity on call volume.”
Lucas said the number of infections in the region is “growing out of control.” As of Sunday, at least 75,126 residents have been infected and 949 have died across the metro area.
It has proven tough, as the pandemic nears its 10th month in the U.S., to convice people to continue to wear masks and continue to socially distance. Lucas said people refusing to wear masks were not only harmful to others, but “exceedingly disrespectful.” He heard about a Lee’s Summit gym owner who threw away his mask in an act of bravado, which Lucas called foolish.
“The people behind me,” Lucas said, surrounded by fire department and union officials, “they are picking up people everyday who are COVID-19 patients. ... They are putting their life at risk each and every day.”
Those who knew Davidson, who had been with KCFD for 18 years, remembered him as a mentor to others. He also served as a paramedic, including with the Metropolitan Ambulance Services Trust.
“Scott was a calming voice that answered the call and ensured help was coming when our residents called the fire department for assistance,” the department said in a statement.
With his loss, the virus has now touched all corners of the department, said Dupin, president of IAFF Local 42.
“Our healthcare workers, your EMS personnel and your firefighters are exhausted,” he said. “My concern is that we are now at a crossroads in this virus. Last spring if we had this rate, the city would’ve been locked down.”
City officials also remembered 41-year-old T-Jay Morales, a KC Water employee who died after contracting the virus.
Among those out with the virus was IAFF Local 3808 President Clay Calvin, who was not at the news conference.
Jason Spreitzer, a fire department spokesman, said any member of the department who tests positive for COVID-19 is considered to have contracted it on the job. The city pays for their treatment and the employees don’t have to use personal time to take off work.
On Monday, Lucas announced that all Kansas City police officers, first responders and other essential workers will be required to wear face masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as part of new public health guidance.
The new order went into effect Friday. Previous emergency orders exempted first responders from being required to wear masks.
After news of the third death, Lucas called Davidson “a wonderful man” who served the department and the community he loved.
“My heart goes out to his family, friends, KCFD and all who knew him,” the mayor said. “I hope all will do everything they can to keep others from having to deal with this terrible disease.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 5:14 PM.
