Four-year-old dead, mother critical after trailer fire

ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A West Michigan community is grieving the loss of a four-year-old boy, killed by a fire Monday in his home.

Around noon on Monday, firefighters were called to a home on 54^th Street in Lee Township outside Pullman. The four-year-old victim was trapped inside when they got to the scene.

Neighbors have described a terrible scene taking place Monday as a mother desperately tried to save her child from the burning trailer.

That mother is now in critical condition; her son, Joseph Everett, died at the scene.

The fire moved quickly through the home, so fast that after 25-year-old Christie Everett and her two-year-old daughter escaped, there was no way she could go back inside.

Neighbors say Everett screamed for help, one of them kicked in a door and black smoke billowed out. Another neighbor called 911 after finding Everett at his doorstep, suffering from severe burns she received trying to rescue her son.

“When we got there, there was so much fire we couldn't enter the house,” said Lee Township Fire Chief, Nelvin DeWeerd. “Plus, the back was burned, the roof and everything was burned through.”

The four-year-old victim was found in a back bedroom, an area where the fire may have started.

A medical helicopter was called to the scene to rush Christie Everett to Bronson Hospital. She's in critical condition after being badly burned.

A State Police Fire Marshall arrived at the burned-out home Monday afternoon to attempt and determine what started the fire.

The local VFW Post in Lee Township is accepting donations to help the Everett family. Christie Everett worked at the VFW.

Donations may be sent to

Post 6134

5632 109^th Avenue

Pullman, MI 49450

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There is an update to this story.