{"id":439652,"date":"2026-10-27T19:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T19:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/439652\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T19:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T19:10:08","slug":"exclusive-firefighters-siblings-speak-out-seek-answers-after-his-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/439652\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Firefighter\u2019s siblings speak out, seek answers after his death"},"content":{"rendered":"

The family of St. Lucie County firefighter-paramedic Austin Hodge is searching for answers after the 34-year-old died in the line of duty<\/a>, just over a year after his younger brother, Jairus \u201cJay\u201d Hodge, who also served with the fire district.<\/p>\n

Austin Hodge was found unresponsive in his bunk at the firehouse early Saturday and was taken to a hospital, according to information provided to his family. He later died. His family told WPTV they do not yet know what happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe feeling is unbearable,\u201d his sister, Alexis Hodge, told WPTV reporter Zitlali Solache during an exclusive interview.<\/p>\n

Alexis and her brother, Javan Hodge, gathered at Austin\u2019s home as they remembered a brother they described as strong, fun, caring and dedicated to serving others.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s strong. He\u2019s fun. He\u2019s caring. He\u2019s smart. It\u2019s so much,\u201d Alexis said.<\/p>\n

Family says Austin appeared normal hours before his death<\/p>\n

Alexis said the family has been told Austin appeared to be himself in the hours before he was found unresponsive. They were told he had been cooking, talking on the phone and making jokes before going to bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody that saw him said he was normal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said the sudden loss has left the family with questions they cannot yet answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shock to literally all of us,\u201d Alexis said. \u201cNobody knows what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with his work as a firefighter-paramedic, Austin also worked as a respiratory therapist, according to his family.<\/p>\n

Family loses second firefighter brother in just over a year<\/p>\n

Austin\u2019s death comes just over a year after the death of his 26-year-old brother<\/a>, Jairus \u201cJay\u201d Hodge, who also served with the fire district.<\/p>\n

The family told WPTV that Jairus became sick while on shift in July 2025 and later died.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost two brothers in one year,\u201d Alexis Hodge said. \u201cI can\u2019t describe to you the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family said Jairus\u2019 death raised concerns about the medical care he received, and Austin sought answers and advocated for his brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would not rest until he could get to the bottom of it,\u201d Javan said. \u201cHe would not rest until he could spread Jay\u2019s legacy globally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family seeks answers about Austin\u2019s death<\/p>\n

Now, Austin\u2019s family says they are determined to understand what happened in his final hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to know A to Z what happened,\u201d Javan said.<\/p>\n

Alexis said the family wants to know who was around Austin and who saw him before he was found unresponsive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to find out what happened to him, who was around him, who saw him. All those questions that we have,\u201d Alexis said.<\/p>\n

As the family waits for answers, Alexis said she is relying on her faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just have to lean on God for now and have him direct my path. And direct the path of this investigation most importantly because things that are done in dark will always come to light,\u201d Alexis said.<\/p>\n

For Alexis, getting those answers is an important part of being able to move forward with her grief.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter I get my answers, then I can rest and heal from my grief,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Siblings promise to carry on their brothers\u2019 legacy<\/p>\n

As the Hodge family grieves, Alexis and Javan say they are determined to make both Austin and Jairus proud.<\/p>\n

For Javan, Austin\u2019s influence is already shaping his future. He said Austin inspired him to pursue a career in healthcare. Javan is studying to become a nurse and is preparing to graduate in December.<\/p>\n

Javan said he knows Austin will still be with him when he walks across the stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do know I want to make him proud. I do know I want to make both of my brothers proud,\u201d Javan said. \u201cThe love I have for them is unimaginable. It has no bounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexis is also holding on to the plans she shared with Austin.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna do everything we talked about. And I\u2019m gonna make him proud,\u201d she said. \u201cI love him and I wish I could just pick up the phone and call him.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of St. Lucie County firefighter-paramedic Austin Hodge is searching for answers after the 34-year-old died in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171684,107975,171685,171686,171,173,172,171687,14458,1402],"class_list":["post-439652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-austin-hodge","tag-firefighter-death","tag-jairus-hodge","tag-jay-hodge","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-st-lucie-firefighter-died","tag-st-lucie","tag-st-lucie-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}