Teenage Boy Dies in Spotsylvania House Fire

A 14-year-old boy died in an early Sunday morning fire in Spotsylvania County.

The first call came in at about 4:04 a.m. for a house fire at 3836 Lee's Hill School Drive, said Spotsylvania County Fire Chief Monty Willaford.

"When units arrived they found heavy fire coming out the front windows and door," Willaford said.  "There was a lot more fire than you'd expect to see pulling up to a fire like that."  He said the morning's "stiff breeze" could have contributed to the fire's intensity.

Five family members had escaped the one-story home.  They told the first responders that a teenage boy remained inside.  "Firefighters made an aggressive entrance into the house and tried to perform a rescue," Willaford said.  "We looked everywhere they said the boy might be."  Not until the fire was nearly extinguished did firefighters locate Xavier Montague.

"The boy was found in the living room area, the location of the heaviest fire damage," Montague said.  "The fire was non-survivable," he said.

The teenager who died had autism, Fox news reported.

Those who survived were the boy's father and grandmother, a 17-year-old female, a 9-year-old male and the boy's mother, who was visiting from Maryland, Willaford said.

"My thoughts and emotions are with the family," Willaford said.  "I just can't imagine.  All the crew feels the same way.  Our thoughts are with the family."

"The house is a total loss," he said.  "They've lost about everything they had."  The Red Cross was called in to help.

Five engine companies responded, bringing 36 crewmembers to the scene.  The department was also dealing with a traffic fatality and a smaller fire at the same time.  "Our resources were really taxed, with all that happening," Willaford said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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