Staff report

A construction worker died Thursday after suffering a heat stroke while building a house in the Olde Mill Creek subdivision.

Richard T. Hennen, 38, of Virginia Beach collapsed while working on a house in the 1200 block of Mill Quarter Lane, off Wilroy Road, said Capt. Jim Judkins, spokesman for the Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescue.

Hennen was taken to Obici Hospital, where he died.

The state medical examiner’s autopsy indicated that he died of heat stroke.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration sent representatives to investigate on Friday, which is standard procedure after a death in the workplace.

Hennen’s death is the first heat-related death to happen this year in Suffolk, Judkins said.

Heat stroke happens when the body’s cooling system quits working and the body temperature rises rapidly. Symptoms include body temperatures in excess of 104 degrees; hot, dry red skin; no sweating; deep breathing; fast pulse; dilated pupils; confusion; hallucinations; and loss of consciousness.