Category: In The News

A massive pile-up during a snow squall on Interstate-81 in Foster Township sparked a large fire and claimed five lives.

By Frank Andruscavage – Source The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (TNS)

Five people are confirmed dead after a multi-vehicle accident in the northbound lanes of Interstate 81 in Foster Twp. during a snow squall Monday morning.

The sudden onset of heavy snow coupled with fog in the area proved a dangerous combination as tractor-trailers, trucks and passenger vehicles slammed into one another. The impact caused at least one tractor-trailer to catch fire; another truck carrying acetylene cylinders was near the blaze.

The crash occurred around 10:30 a.m. just north of the Minersville exit, Exit 116.

Emergency personnel said that as many as 40 vehicles may have been involved.

Authorities reported that, as of 3:50 p.m., five people were known to be dead, and workers continued to search vehicles for other victims.

As several firefighters worked to extinguish the fire, others walked from crushed vehicle to crushed vehicle, checking on occupants and treating the injured.

A mass casualty center was set up on the property of the Wegmans Distribution Center near the crash site.

State police are beginning the complicated investigation as to what caused the crash, which is believed to be weather-related.

The American Red Cross, Greater Pennsylvania Region, Pennsylvania Rivers Chapter, Allentown, responded to provide resources and assistance to affected motorists.

Red Cross Disaster Team members, in coordination with local officials and emergency responders, established a reception center to provide a safe and warm central hub for motorists and their families to receive information, blankets, food and drinks.

Firefighters originally shut down the northbound lanes at the Hegins exit, mile marker 112, but later moved the closure south, shutting the highway at the Tremont exit, mile marker 107.

Southbound traffic was brought to a standstill at the Highridge exit, mile marker 119, and later pushed back to the Frackville exit, mile marker 124. Southbound lanes reopened about 5 p.m.

Also closed at some point was Keystone Boulevard in the Highridge Industrial Park, Gordon Mountain Road and Route 901 in both directions, toward Minersville and into Barry Twp. As of 3:45 p.m. Gordon Mountain Road was open.

The northbound lanes of the interstate are expected to be closed for an indefinite amount of time.

On Feb. 19, a crash involving around 40 vehicles shut down a 3-mile stretch of I-81 in the northbound lanes some 20 miles north, near mile marker 139, between Exit 138 ( McAdoo/ Tamaqua) and Exit 141 ( Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce Beltway). Five people suffered minor injuries, authorities reported at the time.

That crash also occurred during a snow squall that caused whiteout conditions.

(c)2022 The Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)

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Elliott Slocum was welcomed by Wilmington firefighters at Fire Station 6 after two years of almost daily treatments for bone cancer.

November 26, 2021 – By Krys’Tal Griffin – Source Dover Post, Del.

Nov. 25—As 6-year-old Elliott Slocum stood at a Wilmington Fire Station 6 over the weekend, waiting to become a firefighter, there was not a dry eye in sight.

“Are all those people there for me?” his mother, Grace Slocum, 44, recalls him asking. “He’s really fixated on firetrucks and firefighters. I know he loved it and thought it was amazing. He still asks me when he can go back to the fire station.”

Over the last two years, Elliott has been at a hospital almost daily for treatment of pre-b acute lymphoblastic lymphoma, commonly known as bone cancer.

He finally went into remission on Oct. 3 and recently returned to Olive B. Loss Elementary School, where he’s interacting with a large number of people for the first time since being diagnosed in June 2019.

Upon his arrival, one of the first things he told his guidance counselor was that he wanted to be a firefighter, said Grace Slocum.

When second grade teacher Erin McCullin, 43, heard about his love for all things firefighter-related, she knew she had to do something special.

McCullin asked her brother Bobby McCullin, a Wilmington firefighter, if Elliott could meet him.

After Elliott heard the news, he asked McCullin daily when he would meet “firefighter Bobby,” she said.

“Elliott and his family thought they were just coming to see my brother. Maybe a firefighter and a firetruck,” said McCullin.

Little did the Slocum family know, there was a lot more to the surprise than they assumed.

McCullin’s brother ran the idea by his Lt., Jonathan Osika, who passed it along to Chief John Looney. Soon enough, about 50 firefighters from all of the stations in Wilmington came together to give Elliott Slocum an official welcome onto the squad.

He was greeted with a basket of patches and stickers from each fire station, a fire jacket from Bobby McCullin and a real fire helmet.

He even got to ride on a firetruck and hear dispatch congratulate him on officially becoming an honorary firefighter.

“He’s just starting to be a real kid. He was so appreciative and excited,” said Erin McCullin . “Coming from a six-year-old, it’s amazing to see it through his eyes. It was just a day like no other. Something this kid is never going to forget, ever.”

Saturday’s event was organized to put a smile on Elliott’s face, but little did Erin McCullin know, she would never forget this day, either.

Her father, who was a firefighter at the Wilmington Fire Department for 35 years, passed away from cancer 15 years ago.

His birthday was Nov. 20, this past Saturday.

“Elliott was like a little angel sent to my family. It helped my family with our mourning and our loss,” she said. “Seeing the joy in this little boy’s eyes… it made some grown men cry.”

Since the Slocum family moved to Newark three months ago from South Jersey, they have never felt like they belonged more than they do now.

“We really didn’t have any support going through this,” said Slocum. “A lot of people don’t know what to do or what to say when a child is diagnosed with cancer.”

Once Elliott reached remission, the family placed a sign in their front yard congratulating their son on finishing chemotherapy. What they did not expect was the amount of people who would drive by and honk at Elliott in support.

“These were people that we never really met before,” said Grace Slocum. “It has been overwhelming, heartwarming and humbling. All the words.”

Almost a week later, the Slocum family continues to process the outpouring of support and the amount of people who made their son’s dream come true.

“We’re still getting choked up knowing that people put in the time and effort to celebrate him and help him feel more normal,” said Grace Slocum.

Prior to Elliott’s diagnosis, the pain in his legs from the cancer became so bad that at one point he began crawling everywhere, tears in his eyes. Today, he walks proudly away from