DJ humbled by support of community after fire

Popular Orlando DJ Johnny Magic of XL 106.7’s Johnny’s House provided an update Wednesday morning after a fire ravaged his home on the evening of Feb. 21.

It was a cool night, so Hill decided to start a fire in his fireplace. He noticed it wasn’t burning correctly as smoke began to fill the house and the fire alarm went off. When he decided to extinguish the fire, he “heard an electrical burning” noise. He then evacuated the house with his 11-year-old son, Alex, dialed 911 and waited.

“I thought I was going to call the fire department. It was gonna be embarrassing,” Hill said. “All these trucks were gonna come and they’re gonna say you let your fireplace get out of control when they come in and hose it down and I was just gonna be a joke of the neighborhood.”

But it wasn’t until he stepped outside that he saw his house aflame.

Orange County Fire Rescue crews responded shortly before 10 p.m. to the home in the 8000 block of French Oak Drive, which is in a neighborhood off Conroy Road near South Apopka Vineland Road east of Windermere.

Hill and his son were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Neighbors were kind enough to provide shoes and jackets. One family opened their home to his son and their two dogs while Hill waited outside.

“It is hard, once it’s all said and done and when you go back after a fire and you see what is left, the reality of years of stuff is gone and the small things you don’t think about you know, I have to find silverware,” he said. “Socks, underwear, hats, just little things. Everything that I own, if it’s not damaged or destroyed, it smells like smoke.”

A GoFundMe page was put together by his colleagues Brian Grimes and Sondra Rae after listeners bombarded the station asking to help — it has already raised more than $57,000 as of noon on Feb. 26.

“It’s humbling … I want to go to the houses and just hug people and say thank you,” he said. “It’s helping me to know that there’s so many people that are willing to mobilize to just help me get my life started. It shows that somewhere in my life, I’ve done some things right.”

That money is being used to purchase necessities — new beds, sheets, pillows and more — while Hill waits for an insurance adjuster to assess the situation and present a check for the damages. He noted that any extra funds will go into his Baby DJ foundation, which assists families in need.

“What I’ve done with the charity events through the years, they come from my heart, it’s my passion,” said Hill, who mentioned possibly setting up a wing of the foundation to help those dealing with fires. “I think it’s crazy that if you have a radio show or any type of show that you don’t use that format to help the community. That’s insane to me.”

Hill, his son and their two dogs have been staying with friends until they secure housing, but he said the family is doing well, joking that his son’s biggest concern after the fire was that his backpack was destroyed because he had homework to do.

“I got my health, my strength, my dogs, my son, and everything else we’ll rebuild,” Hill said. and puts them in closer proximity to the professional dancers, Jewell said.

“We want all of our students to have the same experience,” he said.

Although a longer commute increases the risk of students dropping their classes, “our hope is to retain them,” Jewell said. To that end, the ballet is offering a 25 percent discount on tuition for current south-campus students who transfer to Harriett’s center.