First responders mourn colleague who fought coronavirus, then succumbed to it

Robert Weber

Middletown EMT and firefighter Robert Weber took part in the fight against the coronavirus, then succumbed to it.(Monmouth County Sheriff's Office)

Monmouth County’s emergency response community is mourning one of its own, following the death of Middletown rescue squad and fire department volunteer Robert Weber from complications stemming from the coronavirus.

“This dedicated first responder is another hero who we lost in the fight against #COVID19,” Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden announced on Facebook Thursday.

Weber died Wednesday at Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, colleagues said.

Weber, a 44-year-old husband and father of one daughter, was a member of the Middletown First Aid and Rescue Squad, the Port Monmouth Fire Company, and the Middletown Fire Department, where he served in the Air Unit.

Dennis Fowler, a spokesman for the Middletown Fire Department, said Weber lived in the Port Monmouth section of the township, and had been with the volunteer department or 15 years. Serving in the departmetn’s Air Unit, Fowler maintained the oxygen supply used by firefighters in burning, smoke-filled buildings.

“It’s sad for a lot of folks,” Fowler said.

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Floyd Goldstein, a deputy chief with the first aid squad who been on calls with Weber driving, said “he was always extremely positive, very up-spirit.”

To honor Weber while also adhering to social distancing guidelines, a motorcade with first responders driving made its way through Middletwn Thursday night, starting at the Monmouth Fire Department at Main Street and Wilson Avenue.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our heroes on the front lines who have succumbed to COVID19,” Golden said in the announcement.

Monmouth County has 4,299 confirmed coronavirus cases and 190 deaths as of Thursday, among 75,317 cases and 3,518 deaths statewide.

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