A postal worker delivers mail to a neighborhood mailbox.
Robin Jerstad
mySA.com
Steven Santana
A Dallas-area postal worker collapsed and later died Tuesday, June 20, while he was one his route amid high temperatures and a triple digit heat index. The family of Eugene Gates Jr., 66, told Fox 4 News in Dallas that he collapsed while on
his route, but the U.S. Postal Service has not said whether Gates died from the heat and his family is still waiting for the cause of death.
The Gates family told Fox 4 that a homeowner in a Dallas neighborhood where Gates was working saw him collapse and rushed over to perform CPR. Gates' wife later received a call saying her husband was rushed to a nearby hospital where he later died. The highest recorded teperature on Tuesday was 97 degrees, but the heat index was 114 degrees, according to National Weather Service Data.
JUST IN: @USPS confirms a letter carrier died on the job in Dallas Tuesday.
— Peyton Yager (@peytonyager) June 21, 2023
Family tells me 66yo Eugene Gates collapsed in a front yard, and a neighbor performed CPR.
USPS isn’t confirming if the death is heat-related at this time.
The heat index Tuesday: 117°.@FOX4 #txwx pic.twitter.com/UJ7gfzl0uE
A statement from USPS says that the service is "deeply saddened by the loss of life suffered yesterday involving a Lakewood Post Office Letter Carrier." Kimetra Lewis, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 132, posted on Facebook Wednesday, June 21, confirming Gates' death.
"While we do not know the full circumstances surrounding his death, we all do know that it was extremely hot in Dallas, TX on yesterday," Lewis wrote on Facebook.
Gates worked for the USPS for nearly 40 years, Fox 4 News reports.
USPS has a Heat Illness Prevention Program that educates postal workers on how to prevent and recognize signs of heat exhaustion, according to its website. On Monday, June 19, Texas officials believe a lineman with Appalachian Power might have died from heat-related issues while working in Texas.