Beloved Fire Lieutenant Dies Months Before Marking 30 Years Of Service In Westchester

A Fire Lieutenant and former Marine who served his city in Westchester for just under thirty years is being mourned after his sudden loss.

Ervin Larry Oakes, a longtime member of the Mount Vernon Fire Department who was promoted to Lieutenant in 2017, has died.
Photo Credit: *Mount Vernon Police Department*

Ben Crnic

04/24/2023 1:00 p.m.

Mount Vernon Fire Department Lieutenant Ervin "Larry" Oakes died suddenly earlier in the month, the city's police department announced on Friday, April 21.

Also affectionately known as "Oak Tree," Oakes was born and raised in Mount Vernon and served as a Marine before joining the Mount Vernon Fire Department in 1993, according to the city's Office of Emergency Management Director Michael Montes.

Oakes spent much of his career as a Truck Company Fire Fighter on Ladder 3 at Station #3, Montes said, adding that he was promoted to the rank of Fire Lieutenant on March 31, 2017.

He was only months away from marking his thirty-year anniversary with the department, which would have been celebrated on Wednesday, Sept. 13.

"We ask that you hold his entire family in your prayers," Montes said in a post on social media.

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