ALBRIGHT — An online fundraiser for an Albright family who lost a child in a fire raised more than $13,000.
Dillian Raymond Livengood sponsored a fundraiser on Facebook and raised $13,426. He said the money will pay for funeral expenses for David DeWitt, who died in the March 26 fire. Livengood said any remaining money will go to the DeWitt family to use as needed.
The house fire that killed the 13-year-old was accidental, according to a tweet from the West Virginia Fire Marshal’s Office.
The tweet said the fire started in a first-floor room at the site of an overloaded electrical cord. Multiple devices were plugged into the single cord, which was supplying electricity for the entire house.
Earlier, Albright Fire Chief Owens Evans said four other family members escaped the blaze by jumping from a second-story window.
He said the roof had collapsed and the home was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived.
“We responded within eight minutes but the structure was already engulfed in flames,” Evans said.
Evans said two people were transported to Preston Memorial Hospital and then sent on to the West Penn Burn Center.
Bruceton and Kingwood Volunteer Fire Departments were also dispatched to the scene.
According to his obituary, David was an eighth grader at Central Preston Middle School, where he was a member of the Future Farmers of America.
There will be a private family funeral. A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations in honor of David be made to the Preston County Humane Society, P.O. Box 395, Kingwood, WV 26537.
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