A grandfather took a mom to work, leaving young kids alone in a North Carolina home when it went up in flames, officials said.
The children — ages 2 and 3 — were pronounced dead after the fire ripped through the house on Jan. 13, Rutherford County Fire Marshal Frankie Hamrick told McClatchy News at the time.
Now, more than two weeks after the deadly blaze, the children’s mother and grandfather have been charged with involuntary manslaughter. The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office in a Jan. 31 news release didn’t list attorney information for the two, identified as Jontae Nichelle Littlejohn and John Randolph Littlejohn, respectively.
“Investigators found that John Littlejohn would take Jontae to work at Zaxby’s in the mornings, and the children were often left at the residence, until John Littlejohn returned,” deputies wrote. “This particular morning was no different.”
Firefighters responded at about 10 a.m. on Jan. 13 to a home on Bostic Sunshine Highway. While at the scene, crews reported seeing smoke.
“While the primary search was underway an occupant of the house returned home and advised fire crews that his grandkids were in the back bedroom,” Rutherford County officials said at the time of the blaze.
Firefighters reportedly found the toddlers and performed CPR. The kids were pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The children were identified as 3-year-old Niya Littlejohn and her brother, 2-year-old Nasir Littlejohn.
“They had the biggest hearts, the cutest smiles,” Amber Suttle, a family friend, told WSPA earlier this month. “They were just the best kids. We’re heartbroken at this point.”
The sheriff’s office said the young brother and sister died after a fire started near a living room couch, though the cause of the blaze was still under investigation as of Jan. 31.
A grand jury indicted the children’s mother and grandfather “for involuntary manslaughter” and felony child abuse.
Rutherford County is roughly 70 miles west of Charlotte.
BAY VILLAGE, Ohio – Jeremy Gillespie was standing on the patio of his Air Bnb in Hawaii on Friday watching a storm roll over the beach.
The 27-year-old Bay Village firefighter noticed as Maui County officials responded to several flooding incidents along the shore Jan. 27.
“Then, I saw them running into the ocean and could tell something was wrong,” he said.
Maui firefighter Tre Evans-Dumaran was swept into a storm drain and started to drown. He was recovered in the ocean by his crew approximately 50 yards away from shore, Gillespie said.
Gillespie, who has worked for the Bay Village Fire Department for approximately a year and previously with Cleveland EMS, said at first he thought the firefighters were recovering debris from the water but soon realized it was the body of Evans-Dumaran.
“I ran over and identified myself as a medic and asked how I could help,” he said. “He didn’t have a pulse at that moment, and the firefighters asked if I would help with CPR.”
Maui paramedics responded shortly after with an automated external defibrillator, but it failed because Evans-Dumaran’s body was too wet.
Others brought towels to dry the 24-year-old firefighter who regained a pulse. He was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where he is in critical condition, according to county officials.
Gillespie said his faith in others was restored when people on vacation stopped to help.
“I was just doing what I was supposed to at the moment,” he said. “Seeing other people jump into action was great. People need to help people more often. That’s what we need more of in the world.”
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said the community is focused on the firefighter’s recovery and encouraged by his progress.
“So many in our community, myself and my own family as well, are holding Tre in our good thoughts and continuing to pray for his well-being,” he said.
“The days and weeks ahead will be important ones for him and his ‘ohana.’ “
Ohana means family in the Hawaiian culture.
In a statement, Fire Chief Brad Ventura said the department is grateful for the support of the community.
“Tre’s ‘ohana and our family of firefighters, together with our community are at his side in prayer and spirit to help him get through the difficult days ahead of recovery,” he said. “He’s not out of the woods yet, but every day brings hope and every day we offer our prayers to give him strength.”
Gillespie has not been in touch with those close to Evans-Dumaran or others who were at the scene on Friday, but he hopes everything turns out well.
“We’re firefighters. We’re a brotherhood,” Gillespie said. “I know he would have done the same for me.”
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, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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.
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.”
Jacksonville firefighters who sued the department to save their beards have lost.
A federal judge has ruled that the request to keep facial hair would require the city to violate OSHA regulations, according to The First Coast News.
The firefighters balked at the policy saying some had a skin condition that can involve scarring, irritated skin and ingrown hair. They sought permission to sport closely trimmed beards that wouldn’t interfere with donning SCBA masks.
“The federal regulations do not allow for individual consideration of facial hair. [I]t prohibits all facial hair. There is no mechanism for the city to deviate,” U.S. Senior District Judge Harvey Schlesinger wrote in the opinion.
Jan. 30—Breakfast was dangerously overcooked Sunday by Hall County firefighters.
The crew at Hall County Station No. 5 responded to a residential fire around 10:45 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, on Spout Springs Road while they were cooking breakfast.
During the fire, another crew returned to the Falcon Parkway station about 10 minutes later from a medical call to find smoke and a small fire coming from the stovetop.
The stove’s fire suppression system put out the fire while the crew tried to grab the fire extinguisher, according to the fire department.
The fire department said the stove top was left on accidentally, leading to minimal damage to the stove.
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 Deputy Chief Armando Hogan, 61, had been on leave since October as the city investigated.
By Dakota Smith Source Los Angeles Times (TNS) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
LAFD Deputy Chief Armando Hogan, second from right, was being investigated for sexual harassment.
LOS ANGELES — A top Los Angeles Fire Department official has retired in the midst of a city investigation into allegations of misconduct against him.
Deputy Chief Armando Hogan, 61, retired effective Jan. 17, said LAFD Capt. Erik Scott, a department spokesperson. Hogan had been on administrative leave since Oct. 13 as the city investigated the accusations, Scott said.
“The department was made aware of allegations of misconduct and directed an investigation to be conducted,” Scott said. “As this is an active investigation, the department will not comment further.”
A message left at a phone number associated with Hogan wasn’t returned Monday.
Independent journalist Daniel Guss reported in October that Hogan was under investigation for alleged sexual harassment. Guss reported last week that Hogan had retired.
A 40-year LAFD veteran, Hogan was named firefighter of the year in 2021 by the Los Angeles City Firefighters Assn. He worked as a battalion chief and assistant chief before being named deputy chief in April 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The LAFD’s three deputy chiefs report to LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley, according to a department organizational chart.
A onetime spokesperson for the agency, Hogan regularly spoke to the media and appeared at fires and other news events.
Hogan was a member of the Stentorians, a group of African American firefighters at the department.
Fire Inspector Gerald Durant, a member of the Stentorians, said Monday that he had no information about the allegations involving Hogan. “I feel bad about the whole thing,” Durant said.
Sources told The Times that the allegations were made by a woman who worked with Hogan.
A 2021 Times investigation detailed allegations of bullying and harassment of female firefighters at the department. A 2019 survey of female members found that members had a positive experience in the recruit academy but reported widespread sexism once they deployed to fire stations.
Crowley, the first woman to lead the city’s Fire Department in its 136-year history, promised accountability when she was chosen for the job last year.
“The intention here and now is to ensure that all of our members, both women and men, come to work and feel safe and feel heard,” Crowley said. “If that type of behavior is occurring, that will not be tolerated. Period.”
Ian Thompson, a spokesperson for City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto, confirmed Monday the city has hired the Law Office of Roberta Yang to look into allegations of misconduct relating to Hogan. The hiring was reported earlier by Los Angeles magazine.
“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.
