LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Zoneton Fire Chief Rob Orkies passed away Friday after a dual battle with cancer and COVID-19. "Chief Orkies succumbed to his fight with cancer and COVID-19 on December 11, 2020," a spokesman for the fire department said, in a statement. "Chief Orkies was in the fire service for more than 36 years and joined the Zoneton Fire District in 1994 after serving with the Okolona Fire Department. He was respected by all who knew him. All of us are deeply saddened by his death. Our condolences and prayers go out to his family and friends. "This is a difficult time for the entire Fire Department, and we will need to come together to get through it. All of us know when we choose firefighting as a path that this type of occurrence is possible. But that does not make it any less tragic or any less difficult to bear once it actually happens."