It is with heavy heart that the Yorktown Heights Engine Company #1 and the Yorktown Heights Fire District announce the untimely passing of Commissioner and Past Chief Arthur R. Orneck. Commissioner Orneck was a 58 year Life Member of the Yorktown Heights Engine Company #1, having joined the agency in 1965. Commissioner Orneck held all the firematic officer ranks within the agency, which culminated with his tenure as Chief of the Department between 1986 and 1987. After serving the agency as a firematic officer, then Past Chief Orneck was elected to Yorktown Heights Board of Fire Commissioners in 1993 as one of five Fire Commissioners for the district. On January 1, 2023, Commissioner Orneck began his 30th year as a Yorktown Heights Fire District Commissioner. The boards with which Commissioner Orneck served were profoundly successful in the expansion of the district through the construction of the Kitchawan Road Fire and Rescue Station and the addition to the Locksley Road Fire Station. Commissioner Orneck saw the lifesaving value that the agency's Dive Team and Water Rescue Unit provided to the entire region and thus supported the unit's growth and sustainability. Commissioner Orneck maintained ideals towards progressing with the industry and with such, served on boards who supported the expansion of the fleet to include necessary specialty vehicles while ensuring the front-line fire suppression and rescue apparatus maintained a parallel path with the industry's change and growth. Commissioner Orneck's commitment to the fire service was not limited to this agency alone, as he served a successful career in the fire service as a Professional Firefighter for the Greenville Fire District (Greenburgh Uniformed Firefighter's Association) from 1981 until he retired in 2000. Commissioner Orneck's profound contributions to the fire service, career and volunteer, is a testament to his dedication to a life of service. His direction and dedication to the Board of Fire Commissioners and the citizens of the Yorktown Heights Fire District will most certainly be missed. You can rest easy sir....we'll take it from here! At present, services for Commissioner Orneck have not been announced.