Freelance starr article 1.12.09
01/13/2009 22:43Teen killed in house fire
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Date published: 1/12/2009
A former Massaponax High School student died in a fire at his Northumberland County home over the weekend.
At 5:12 a.m. Saturday, a 911 caller reported a fire at 189 Prentice Creek Road in Kilmarnock.
Northumberland County Sheriff Chuck Wilkins said the single-wide trailer was in flames when firefighters arrived.
Six occupants–including 2,6,8 and 10-year-olds–were able to escape from the burning house, but bystanders said a young male was missing.
Firefighters later located a body in one of the bedrooms.
The body was sent to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Richmond for a positive identification and cause of death, Wilkins said.
Family members say 17-year-old Brian Allen Gravely was asleep in his bedroom at the time of the fire.
Police believe the cause of the fire was electrical.
“At this point, we are leaning toward space heaters,” Wilkins said. “There were multiple in the trailer.”
The home was a complete loss, Wilkins said.
Gravely was attending classes at the Northern Neck Technical Center in Warsaw.
His mother, Deborah Gravely said he loved to work on cars or anything to do with mechanical work.
He had moved to Northumberland County about a year ago, but lived most of his life in Spotsylvania County, where he attended Massaponax.
The American Red Cross is providing shelter for the family for three days.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do after that,” Deborah Gravely said. “We lost everything.”
The family is holding a service Thursday at Mullins & Thompson funeral home in Stafford at 1 p.m.
Donations can be made to Mullins & Thompson Funeral Services in care of Brian A. Gravely.
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