Another tragedy. Or is it, anymore? Yes. But still.

According to Jacksonville’s “Channel Four,” Lake City Florida’s Fire Chief, Randy Burnham died Sunday after contracting COVID-19, according to his own department. He seems like he was a great guy, probably had to be to get to a position like that. He probably has saved dozens of lives, at least in his career. He worked with that department for over thirty years. He couldn’t save his own.

The story doesn’t say whether Burnham vaccinated himself, but he was young (from pictures, we don’t have the age from the report). The station asked, no one knew, or so they had said. We hate to be cynical but we have yet to see an announcement of a vaccinated person’s death. Perhaps it happens. We scour media daily and haven’t seen it. It is possible that he got the vaccine so early that he needed a booster shot but… that would likely be known. It would be huge news if he was vaccinated.

The department disclosed that at one point, 75% of the department either had COVID or were quarantined from COVID. It sounds like Burnham was a great guy:

He had qualities that were admired, that would just — you naturally gravitate towards people like Chief Burnham, and, you know, to lose somebody like him in the fire service, in general — much less in a small community like Lake City or Lake City Fire Department — is just absolutely tragic,” Thomas said.

Yes, it is absolutely tragic and made all the more so by the fact that he likely could have easily prevented it. Something stops people from getting vaccinated. We have heard it described as “stubbornness,” by some. The answer is an appointment away. How many have to go.

We hope it isn’t the other man that the report notes is on a ventilator from COVID.

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