'Epitome of what you'd want as an employee'; firefighter/paramedic remembered
Jairus Hodge joined the agency in 2022, and became a firefighter/paramedic shortly thereafter, Lee said. Hodge was 26, according to the Fire District.
'He's the epitome of what you'd want as an employee, what you would want as a firefighter and what you'd want as a community servant,' Lee said. 'He's the kind of guy that came to work happy to be here, happy to serve. It's a huge loss.'
Lee said Hodge on July 21 was at Station 10 on duty and began feeling bad, and asked to go home.
'This is not a person who normally does that,' Lee said. 'When he went home, everybody was concerned about him because it's not normal.'
Lee said that on July 22, Hodge felt worse and called rescue officials and was taken from his home to the hospital.
After his death, his body was escorted by local first responders, including representatives from the Fire District, Port St. Lucie Police and St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office, from Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital in Port St. Lucie to the medical examiner's office in Fort Pierce.
Lee said they are waiting for the cause of death from the medical examiner's office.
Asked whether Hodge could have been exposed to something during a call, Lee said officials don't suspect that, but it's not immediately known.
'He ran several medical calls that day and the M.E. is looking at those. It is possible he came in contact with something that ultimately created his illness,' Lee said. 'We just don't know at this time.'
Lee said Hodge's older brother, Austin Hodge, also is a firefighter with the agency.
'He idolizes his older brother from my understanding,' Lee said. 'He followed in his footsteps into the fire service here with the district.'
Lee said the siblings were close and did a lot together on their days off. He said both worked out, describing them as 'very fit.'
Hodge typically worked out of Station 3, in the 400 block of Southwest Ravenswood Lane in Port St. Lucie, though on July 21 was at Station 10 in the 700 block of Southwest Dalton Circle in Port St. Lucie, according to Lee.
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'He was a dedicated son, brother, and brother firefighter who epitomized what it means to be a St. Lucie County firefighter, and we're going to miss him dearly,' Lee said.
Lee said he's considering Hodge's passing a line-of-duty death.
'It correlates with his last shift being sick, that's the way I see it,' Lee said. 'I see it as a line of duty death, and we're going to treat it accordingly.'
Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: 'A huge loss'; young St. Lucie County firefighter dies
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