Officials: Redding student dies in house fire
REDDING — Community members have raised tens of thousands of dollars for the family of a local middle school student who died after a fire engulfed his Diamond Hill Road home Tuesday night, officials said.
The boy, identified as Brien Karlson, was a sixthgrader at John Read Middle School in Redding. He was seriously injured in the fire and taken to the hospital where he died Wednesday, officials said.
It’s “tragic and sad and everybody’s grieving,” said Chris Parkin, chair of the Redding Board of Education. He said Karlson was an active member of a local Boy Scouts troop.
A crowdfunding page set up to provide support for the family had raised about $46,000 as of late Thursday afternoon.
That amount included $250 donated by the Joel Barlow High School boys varsity lacrosse team, head coach Taylor Leahy said in
an email.
The page said the family “lost their beloved son Brien, their two dogs” and their home “to a devastating fire,” and described Brien as “a curious and gentle soul whose love for people and
animals was apparent to anyone who spent any amount of time with or around him.”
“As they manage through this unimaginable time of grief, we are asking for your support,” the organizer
wrote on the page. “While no amount of money with change the fate or devastation of that day, we are hoping to come together to provide support for this amazing family as they move forward.”
In a letter to the school community, Jason McKinnon, superintendent of the Easton, Redding and Region 9 school districts, said it was “devastating” to share the tragic news with staff and families.
Parkin said counseling was available at Redding Elementary and John Read Middle schools Thursday and will continue into next week. Staff with the school district and a crisis intervention team from Western Connecticut State University will be on-site to support students, he said.
The Karlson family was home at the time of the fire, school officials said in the letter. The blaze drew crews from all three of the town’s fire departments, the West Redding Volunteer Fire Department said in a Facebook post at 1:50 a.m. Wednesday.
While some members of the family were able to escape without injury, McKinnon said Brien was one of three people who had to be rescued by responders. He was taken to the hospital and died from his injuries Wednesday afternoon after a “courageous fight,” according to the letter.
The condition of the others who were rescued was not immediately available.