Tullytown, Pennsylvania assistant fire chief dies from COVID-19

TULLYTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- The Tullytown Fire Company is mourning the loss of 50-year-old Assistant Fire Chief Rick Johnson after he died on Saturday morning due to COVID-19.

Johnson went to the hospital on March 18, he also had an underlying condition, officials said.

Because of how contagious coronavirus is, Johnson's friends and family could not visit him.

Fire Chief and longtime friend Aaron Cohen got a group of firefighters together on Friday night and they drove to the hospital in their trucks.

They hoped Johnson, who was on a ventilator, could hear them.

"We haven't seen Rick since he went into the hospital," Cohen said. "I had an idea and asked a couple of my members, 'Do you want to take some of the trucks to the hospital?' And hoped and prayed maybe he could come out of this."

Johnson was a volunteer firefighter for 27 years. He held several ranks and several members of his family were also volunteers.