A 17-year veteran of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department has become the first in the agency to succumb to the COVID-19 virus in the line of duty.
Lt. Mario Moya, a U.S. Navy veteran who spent most of his firefighting career at Station 42 in Mandarin, died late Tuesday at Baptist Medical Center South, the fire department reported.
The 51-year-old received a police and fire department escort as his body was taken to a funeral home from the hospital Wednesday, with firefighters saluting Rescue 42 as it and the procession went past.
Getting a bit emotional as he spoke after being in the lieutenant's procession, Chief David Castleman said his initial reaction was "extreme grief." He said the department had long feared that one of its1,600-plus uniformed personnel could die from the virus as they tackle 160,000 911 calls a year, even though they wear protective gear due to the pandemic.
His final ride was in the unit that he rode in on duty," Castleman said. " I was in the procession, and I told my deputy chief that I got choked up a few times as we passed the men and women of the department standing on the side of the road saluting. Even private citizens pulled off the road and put their hands over their hearts."
Fire officials did not release information on whether Moya had been vaccinated against the virus, citing privacy laws. Castleman said they had been monitoring the lieutenant's progress after he reported getting sick and thought he was improving until he was hospitalized and had to be put on a ventilator.
Dozens of firefighters quarantined in Jacksonville
As of Wednesday afternoon, 46 city firefighters were under COVID-19 quarantine, 36 of those testing positive, fire officials said. More: Duval County becomes nation's COVID-19 hot spot for hospitalizations More: Duval County COVID-19 death toll tops 1,800; 19 die in 3 days at UF Health Jacksonville hospitals Castleman, head of the department's rescue division, said he had worked with Moya when he was a rookie in 2004 at that station at 2948 Delor Drive.
"He was just a big guy with a big smile. That's probably the best way to describe him," Castleman said. "He was quiet, unassuming. He was the kind of guy who always stood in the background and never wanted the credit. But he always made sure the job got done." It was usually the rookie's duty to show off the fire engines during school or scout tours, and most tried to avoid that, Castleman said. But Moya relished that, he said.
"He took his job seriously and he was really good," Castleman said. "... Mario loved it. He stepped up."
Moya resided near the station and "truly served the community where he lived," always seeming to work his way back to Station 42 as he got promoted, Castleman said.
"And I know he did it with pride," the chief said.
Moya was a poignant part of a Brother to Brother march on Sept. 11, 2006, in downtown Jacksonville, honoring the first responders who died five years earlier in the terrorist attacks on New York City's World Trade Center. He joined 343 firefighters, more than 60 police officers and a few dozen sailors in a procession that filled Laura Street to represent how many first responders died in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.
The marchers approached a podium in front of a 50-foot-wide mural of the New York City skyline with the World Trade Center towers, each reading the name of a fallen "brother." Moya read the last name on the list: Richard Muldowney Jr. of New York's Ladder 7 as he dropped a white carnation beside an "eternal flame."
"After the first building fell, they knew how dangerous it was," Moya said then. "But they went on up in that other tower anyway. They knew what that meant, but they knew they had to get out as many as they could."
Jacksonville firefighters have faced quarantine and illness in the past 17 months of the pandemic, but no deaths until now, Castleman confirmed.
Vaccinations encouraged for Jacksonville firefighters
In early July seven Jacksonville firefighters who volunteered to help search a collapsed South Florida condominium were diagnosed with COVID-19, according to department officials.
Castleman said the department continues to encourage all of its members to get vaccinated but could not say if any of its virus protocols would be changed after the lieutenant's death.
Across Northeast Florida, a number of law enforcement officers have died from the virus, including: Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Lt. Chris Cunningham, 48, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office auxiliary Sgt. Louis "Lou" Livatino, 71, Nassau County Deputy Bailiff Jack Gwynes, 61, and Clay County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Eric Twisdale, 49.
Moya is survived by his wife, Christina, and children Bobby, Bella and MJ. Funeral details will be announced soon. But the service will be at St. Joseph's Catholic Church just blocks from his fire station with full department honors, Castleman said. As a Navy veteran, he will be interred at Jacksonville National Cemetery.
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