Feb. 1, 2023 Nick Theofilis was a Penn Hills EMS paramedic and volunteer firefighter at Rosedale Fire Department

By Michael DiVittorio Source The Tribune-Review, Greensburg (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Jan. 31—Friends and family of Penn Hills native Nick Theofilis gathered at one of his favorite watering holes for a celebration of his life.

An estimated 400 people stopped by Carnivores in Oakmont for a “Nite For Nick,” which was organized by longtime friend Katie Shimko.

Laughter and joy filled the air. Some attendees shed tears and raised glasses in memory of their late friend on Friday.

“We got a good turnout for Nick,” Shimko said. “I was expecting a lot of people, but not this much. I’m shocked. And it just shows you how many lives he impacted and touched.

“He’s jealous he’s not here. He is looking down on us like, ‘Oh my gawd — I told you I knew everybody. Look at all these people here, and I can’t talk to anybody and I’m so mad.’ He loved coming down here (and) hanging out on a Friday night.”

Tragic day

Theofilis, a Penn Hills EMS paramedic and volunteer firefighter at Penn Hills’ Rosedale Fire Department, died Nov. 27 while on duty driving an ambulance in Pittsburgh.

Theofilis was driving at the intersection of Fifth and Morewood avenues in Pittsburgh shortly after 11 p.m. when it and another vehicle collided.

Penn Hills EMS Supervisor Diane Fitzhenry said Theofilis died of blunt force trauma resulting in a traumatic cardiac arrest secondary to a motor vehicle crash.

There was no patient in the ambulance at the time, but Theofilis had a front-seat passenger.

Neither the passenger, whose name was not released, nor the driver of the other vehicle, were seriously injured.

Celebration of life

Nick’s Nite took place a day after what would have been his 24th birthday.

Activities kicked off around 6 p.m.

From that time to close, 20% of food and drink sales were donated to his family, along with proceeds from gift baskets and other raffles.

A little less than $8,000 was raised by the end of the night.

There were balloons spread about the bar. The family had a special table with cupcakes donated by Oakmont Bakery and Sam’s Club.

Nick’s parents, Lori and Peter Theofilis, said they were overwhelmed by everyone’s support and love for their son.

“I have found that when I see friends that I haven’t seen since the funeral it does help me out,” Lori Theofilis said about the gathering. “It’s almost like I know they’re OK so I can be OK.

“He was never a little kid. He was an adult in a little kid body. He had a presence about him and he could relate to adults. We always used to tease that he had more adult friends than we did.”

Lori Theofilis recalled her son going out for ride-alongs in a Penn Hills ambulance as a teenager and fostering a desire to be in the medical field while going to school.

Peter Theofilis said Nick had a knack for making friends no matter a person’s status.

“His greatest talent was knowing who the most important person was in a room, and going up and introducing himself and becoming friends with them,” Peter Theofilis said. “It’s amazing the people he got to know just by having the balls to go up and talk to them. I could never do that in my life. I was shy.

“The most extroverted person you would ever know. He didn’t get it from me. … We would go to the beach and he would spend each day with a different family on their towel and come back to us that evening. Just an amazing personality.”

The family put on a happy face while at times fighting back tears.

“I feel the grieving is going to come after when all this crashes,” Peter Theofilis said. “Two, three weeks from now, when we’re not surrounded by loved ones, I fear it’s going to crash.”

Nick’s firefighter jacket and hat were placed at his favorite spot at Carnivores, a corner bar seat near the kitchen. A shot of tequila with lime was placed next to a white card with tiny hearts with the message “We Love You Nick.”

There was a small plaque in memory of Theofilis to the left of the chair. Its inscription: “A Caring Friend to All.”

Nick’s brother, Max Theofilis, sat to the right of the chair during the event.

“It’s almost like he hasn’t left,” Max said. “This environment embodies his personality. It feels very much like he’s still here. I walked in here thinking to myself, Nick should be here. This is the type of thing he’d want to be at.

Several attendees patted Max on the back, gave hugs and condolences. Many at the bar said great things about the family.

“It shows how important he was,” Max Theofilis said. “It shows how many people cared for him and makes me feel like he didn’t die in vain.”

The Rosedale Beach Club gave the family a fallen first responders flag, also called an angel flag. Theofilis served as a lifeguard for several summers at the Penn Hills pool.

Mary Chirdon, co-treasurer of the beach club, helped manage the 45 gift baskets during the event.

“Nick did everything for everybody, so it’s only right that I can give a little bit of my time,” Chirdon said. “Look how many people are here to celebrate Nick. That’s what it’s all about. Always a giving young man, dependable and willing to do whatever it took. He always led the lifeguards in training and he led by example.

“If you needed something done, you could go to Nick to get it done.”

Chirdon said the club plans to dedicate a lifeguard chair in Theofilis’ memory the Friday before Memorial Day.

Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-871-2367, mdivittorio@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Feb. 1, 2023 Oceanside and Carlsbad medics treated the man who was later released from the hospital days later.

By Andrew J. Campa Source Los Angeles Times (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A skydiver plummeted in Oceanside, Calif., on Friday afternoon after his parachute malfunctioned, caroming off the roof of a house before hitting the ground — and he still survived the fall, authorities said.

The unidentified man is believed to be in his 30s or 40s, according to the Oceanside Fire Department, which responded to a distress call shortly after 5 p.m. near Oceanside Municipal Airport.

Firefighters found the man lying on the ground between two homes in a residential area.

They treated him before he was loaded into a Carlsbad Fire Department ambulance and transported to the airport. He was then airlifted to a hospital.

According to Oceanside fire officials, the skydiver was recovering from serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The man was part of a group being escorted by trained staff from GoJump in Oceanside, a skydiving company that says it has completed nearly 150,000 skydives.

The hospitalized skydiver first encountered problems when his parachute only partially opened, said Oceanside Fire Battalion Chief Blake Dorse.

“The other skydivers who jumped with him witnessed the event,” Dorse said, “and saw that his chute did not properly open.”

The parachute did prevent a free fall, according to officials. The landing, however, was accelerated and uncontrolled.

As he fell, the man smacked into the roof of a two-story home before landing in an open space.

Dorse said that although it wasn’t uncommon for skydivers to miss their landing spots and descend into residential areas, Friday’s event was rare.

“This is the first time that I know that we’ve had a non-opening chute,” said Dorse, a 17-year-veteran, who noted the airport was a hot spot for skydiving.

GoJump has had at least two more incidents in Oceanside in less than a year that have resulted in serious injury.

According to the Coast News Group, a GoJump plane crash in June resulted in the death of a pilot in training and a serious injury to a seasoned flier. Two others were injured in a crash in February of last year.

GoJump did not respond to a call for comment.

Feb. 1, 2023 The victim and her father are anxious to meet the medics and thank them.

Source Firehouse.com News

A severely injured woman and her dad want to thank the Boston crews for their heroic actions.

Andrew Harlow told WBZ he got the call no parent wants to get. “Uh, your daughter has been hit by a train.”

Ava, 20, was knocking on the window of the trolley to alert her friends who were still in the car when she lost her balance and fell under the moving train. 

Boston firefighters performed a technical rescue and rushed her to the hospital. One of her legs was amputated below the knee. Her other leg was broken, and she also suffered a fractured skull, a broken arm, and a crushed pelvis.

She has a long road to recovery.

Harlow said his daughter wants to thank the firefighters who rescued her. And, she’s not alone. 

“I want to know who the guy was who tied her tourniquet. I want to know who it was that resuscitated her the first time, then the second time,” Harlow said, “I’m just grateful to the guys.”

Jan. 31, 2023 The grandfather learned he lost his family from a Facebook post from his daughter.

Source Firehouse.com News

Four children and an adult were killed in a mobile home fire rural Tennessee Sunday afternoon.

Dennis Longhurst told reporters he learned on Facebook that his daughter lost her two children, two stepchildren and her husband.

“We were at home last night. About four in the afternoon fixing to go to church and I saw something on Facebook. My daughter put on Facebook that my whole family is killed,” he said.

When he didn’t get much from her on the phone, he tossed things in his vehicle in South Carolina and hit the road for Luttrell.  He still can’t understand how they didn’t escape the Sunday afternoon fire. 

The children were identified as Briseis Aljumaily, 15, Audrie Cooper-Fortner, 9, Gabriella Aljumaily, 5, and Evie Cooper-Fortner, 5.

He said his daughter was out shopping when the fire occurred. 

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating. 

Jan. 31, 2023 Irving FF/EMT Joseph Solecki battled for more than 500 days to get back to duty.

Source Firehouse.com News

“Just amazing, it’s actually nothing short of a miracle.”

That’s how Irving Fire Capt. Jeff Judd had to say about FF/EMT Joseph Solecki returning to duty after battling COVID.

In July 2021, after treating a patient with COVID, Solecki, Judd and several others caught COVID, NBC reported.

Some got very sick, but nothing like Solecki who suffered pneumonia in both lungs. He was in a medically induced coma for about a week. During the ordeal, he dropped 100 pounds.

“I went from 275-278 to about 170-180 pounds. My left side was numb, my feet were numb, and my legs were numb.”

He had to learn to walk again. And, once he did there was no turning back. He was on a mission to return to work.

After more than 500 days, he did just that. 

Jan. 31, 2023 The union is demanding gear that doesn’t contain ‘forever chemicals’ and legal actions are not off the table.

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez Source Las Vegas Review-Journal (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Life-saving equipment designed to protect firefighters has caused cancer for an unknown number of first responders, according to the International Association of Fire Fighters union.

In a Monday press conference at the Caesars Forum convention center in Las Vegas, the union announced that it had retained a trio of prominent “toxic tort law” firms to demand changes to the personal protective gear firefighters use, and to explore compensation for cancer-ridden firefighters and their families.

The organization was hosting about 2,000 of its more than 330,000 North America members for a leadership training summit in Las Vegas. The union represents about 850 firefighters in Clark County.

At issue are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — also known as PFAS or “forever chemicals” — designed to coat against substances and elements such as heat.

“The very gear designed to keep us safe is laden with these carcinogens,” said union president Edward Kelly, speaking next to firefighter’s outfit piled in a bundle. “The gear we depend on to keep us safe is killing us.”

Tens of thousands of firefighters may have been affected, Kelly said.

Toxic chemicals?

Mostly all U.S. residents have been exposed to the chemicals at issue, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Most known exposures are relatively low, but some can be high, particularly when people are exposed to a concentrated source over long periods of time. Some PFAS chemicals can accumulate in the body over time,” the federal agency’s website said.

The CDC highlighted fire department personnel as being apt to that exposure. “Current scientific research suggests that exposure to high levels of certain PFAS may lead to adverse health outcomes,” the agency said.

That outcome is cancer, according to the union “And cancer is the No. 1 killer of firefighters,” Kelly said.

Up to three-quarters of firefighters memorialized in the past year died from “occupational cancer,” the Boston firefighter added.

Kelly has served in the 16-member executive board of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts. Three of those board members, who worked in different departments, have been diagnosed with testicular cancer, he said.

“One can surmise that their exposure was through the very turnout gear; (personal protective equipment) that they draw on day in and day out that’s laden with these chemicals,” Kelly said.

Possible litigation

The union decided to retain the law firms Motley Rice, LLC; Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC; and Sullivan Papain Block McGrath Coffinas & Cannavo P.C.

“Collectively, they have decades of experience representing firefighters and hard-working families who’ve been taken advantage of by corporate interests,” Kelly said. “This is the challenge of our generation. And I refuse to let that challenge become a problem for the next generation or our grandchildren.”

Attorney Daniel Blouin with Simmons Hanly Conroy said that it’s not a “job requirement” to get cancer as a result of firefighters’ work.

“These firefighters all around this country and in Canada do not deserve the treatment that the manufacturers of these products have given,” he said. “It starts to stop now.”

The union is demanding gear that’s free of the chemicals in question, and wants the National Fire Protection Association — an agency designated by The Occupational Safety and Health Administration — to change its regulatory standards.

Firefighters in European countries, for example, use safer gear, Kelly said.

The gear U.S. firefighters use has been in circulation since the late 1980s and early 1990s, despite “chemical corporations” knowing the chemicals were “toxic” decades prior to that, Kelly said.

Watch BURNED; Protecting the Protectors Documentary.

It wasn’t clear what action the law firms would take, but a class-action lawsuit is a possibility, they said.

“We are certainly exploring our options and we are intent on taking this fight wherever it goes,” Kelly said.

Attorney Joe Rice with Motley Rice told the Review-Journal that the such litigation would be as wide-scaled as cases relating to asbestos, tobacco and pharmaceutical opioids.

Hollywood-produced documentary

At the union’s announcement coincided with the release of the documentary “Burned: Protecting the Protectors,” which highlights the plight of Diane Cotter, the wife of former Worcester, Mass., firefighter Paul Cotter, who had to medically retire after a 2014 aggressive testicular cancer diagnosis.

“He had no symptoms, no family history, and he had no indication of suffering from aggressive prostate cancer,” she said Monday. “What he went through led to his early retirement from his job that he loved.”

His anguish and depression made her dive deep into research — having contacted hundreds of people and experts — about the chemicals in firefighters’ gear, which was found to have high levels of toxicity, she said.

The film was produced by Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo.

The findings on the harmful effects of the chemicals on firefighters are relatively new, and Diane Cotter is a big reason why, Kelly said.

“(Cotter) really started pulling the string on this issue and fought against a lot of pressure coming from all sides to try to silence her,” he said.

Kelly added: “And I will tell you, she’s a hero with the firefighters.”