Teenage boy killed in Minneola house fire ID'd

17-year-old attended Lake Minneola High School, officials say

MINNEOLA, Fla. – A teen died late Wednesday night in a house fire in Minneola, officials said.

City officials said Thursday that Trevor Ross, 17, who attended Lake Minneola High School, died in the fire.

The two-alarm fire happened around 9 p.m. at a home near Minneola Street and Ridgecrest Loop.

Firefighters found the home engulfed in flames.

"Firefighters entered the engulfed home and made a heroic effort to locate anyone trapped inside," Minneola Fire Chief Jan Otero said. "They located one individual still inside the fire and smoke-filled home.”

Emergency medical crews performed CPR on Ross, who died at the scene, fire officials said. 

Other occupants of the home were able to escape with minor injuries, according to officials. 

It's not known if there were working smoke alarms inside the home.

"We are One Minneola," Minneola’s City Manager Mark Johnson said. "Minneola is a close-knit community of people that deeply care for each other. Now is the time for us to come together and pour out our love to this family. We encourage our community to pray for the victims and donate what they can to help them in their time of need."

The city later said it was accepting donations of clothing, food, food gift certificates and other items, which can be dropped off at Minneola City Hall. 

Grief counselors are on campus at the school to assist Ross' classmates.

Lake County Fire Rescue said it worked with crews from the Minneola, Clermont and Groveland fire departments to extinguish the blaze. The house was destroyed in the fire.

No firefighters were hurt.

The state fire marshal was called to investigate the cause of the blaze.

A GoFundMe has been set up, which can be found here.


About the Authors:

Troy Blevins is a Digital Content Editor who has been with Graham Media Group since 2012.

Mark Lehman became a News 6 reporter in July 2014, but he's been a Central Florida journalist and part of the News 6 team for much longer. While most people are fast asleep in their bed, Mark starts his day overnight by searching for news on the streets of Central Florida.

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