LODD: R.I. firefighter dies of apparent heart attack hours after structure fire
Robert “Bob” Thomas Gardner, Jr. had served as a deputy chief for the Richmond-Carolina Fire District
Duty Death: Robert “Bob” Thomas Gardner - [Richmond, Rhode Island]
End of Service: 01/26/2023
By Leila Merrill
FireRescue1
CAROLINA, R.I. — Firefighter Robert “Bob” Thomas Gardner, Jr., 55, died Thursday of an apparent heart attack, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.
He had been at the Richmond-Carolina Fire District station putting apparatus and equipment back in service after a residential structure fire call Wednesday.
Gardner, a former deputy chief, went home and sometime overnight suffered an apparent heart attack and passed away.
“This is by far the hardest announcement to make,” Chief Scott W. Barber wrote in a Facebook post. “Please keep his family and his fellow firefighters in your thoughts and prayers as we all process and deal with the loss of our brother.”
