18-year-old dies in Taylorsville house fire, family displaced after total loss

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Flames engulfed the basement of a Taylorsville home last weekend, leaving an 18-year-old dead and a family uprooted.

Firefighters responded to a house fire in the 1000 block of Bloomfield Road in Taylorsville just after 1 a.m. on Sept. 7. When firefighters arrived to the home, it was engulfed with heavy fire and smoke.

"It could have been electrical, and right now that's about all we know until they wrap up their investigation," said Sam Satterly, assistant chief of Taylorsville-Spencer County Fire Protection District. "It was a normal fire per say, just in the basement."

There were seven people inside the home, according firefighters. But a young man with a connection to the fire department didn't make it out alive.

"When they did the initial push through the basement, everyone except for James was able to get out," Satterly said.

James Nation died at the scene. He was a former member of the Taylorsville-Spencer County Fire Protection District Jr. Firefighters Program from 2022-23.

Satterly said Nation's death has hit some people within the fire department hard.

"You know them, you know their history, and it's more personal to you than just a normal run where you have a unfortunately fatality," Satterly said.

The rest of the family made it out of the home safely, but now they've lost everything.

Satterly said the basement is a total loss, while the rest of the house has smoke and water damage. He expects the entire home to be a total loss.

Nation was a recent high school graduate and will be remembered by the department.

"He was a good kid. He did a great job while he was here, he was well-liked, soft spoken kind of kid," Satterly said. "He was interested in everything, wanted to learn things."

A GoFundMe was created to support the family. To donate, click here.

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