BRADFORD COUNTY, Fla. – The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office is rallying around a mother after a child died in a trailer home fire in Bradford County.
The Bradford County Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating a trailer home fire that killed a 13-year-old child on Tuesday.
Bradford County Fire Rescue was sent to the fire at the 12000 block of SW 84th Avenue and found a trailer home fully engulfed in fire.
Officials said once the flames were extinguished, they found the remains of what appeared to be a juvenile lying prone in a bed.
The sheriff’s office said a 13-year-old who is known to live at the residence is unaccounted for and the child stayed home from school due to illness while his mother was at work in Gainesville at the Alachua County Jail.
“It was very difficult for the staff at our department of the jail,” Chris Simms of the ACSO said. “It’s even more terrible when you work alongside an individual every single day and then have to look them in the eyes and tell them that they’ll no longer hug their child anymore.”
Brad Smith, the chief deputy of the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office, said they are working with the Medical Examiner’s Office to confirm that it is the child.
Neighbors said they would see the mother and son often, but didn’t know them personally. A nextdoor neighbor said they saw the trailer go up in flames.
“It’s a sad feeling because I saw the fire and there was nothing I could do, and then finding out that there was a kid in it is very sad,” Miles Hudson said.
Since the fire, she has been staying with relatives while the sheriff’s office, the state fire marshal’s office and the Medical Examiner’s Office are investigating.
“We really want to stress that we don’t want people on social media trying to point fingers and lay blame, just try and be negative,” Smith said. “This family is dealing with just a horrific tragedy right now and we want to uplift them as much as we can to try and support them in this difficult time.”
News4JAX is working to learn the names of the 13-year-old and his mother.