Firefighters say 6-year-old was protecting his 3-year-old brother when they died in house fire

CLIFTON, Va. (WUSA) - A Virginia family is mourning the loss of their two youngest boys who died after they were trapped in a house fire.

Firefighters say the eldest child, 6-year-old William, died trying to protect his younger brother.

“As soon as he was born, he was like, ‘Oh, no. I’m going to love him. I’m going to protect him,” James Brice, the boys’ father, said.

Brice said his son William made it his mission in life to protect his baby brother, 3-year-old Zachariah.

On April 10, the two boys became trapped as flames and smoke engulfed their Clifton home.

Firefighters told the Brice family they found the boys on the second floor.

“As dark as the house was, they could see them clearly somehow, which was really special, to what we believe, thinking that God had put his mercy around them,” Brice said.

The other details are even more heart-wrenching.

“He said that your 6-year-old was covering your 3-year-old,” Brice said.

It came as no surprise to the Brices.

“We knew that was his character. If he wanted to leave the house, he could have, but we believe that he saw his brother in trouble and he went back to protect him,” Brice said.

First responders and doctors tried their best to save the boys.

“It was extremely painful because we could still see the heartbeat,” Brice remembered. “We could see the vitals were getting better, and then ultimately, when they got to that testing, there’s no responsiveness.”

Last week, both William and Zachariah died from their injuries, but not before the Brices made the decision to donate the boys’ organs.

“Their hearts are hopefully going to go on and the recipients are going to be able to have those big hearts,” Brice added.

The family received an outpouring of support and believe that, combined with their faith, has gotten them through this. They’re focused now on celebrating the young boys.

“We believe heaven celebrates when other people come to faith and we have a picture of William with the sticker saying, ‘I started a party,’” Brice said.

They are also finding purpose in this horrific loss.

“It was dark. It was evil, but we’re not running away from it. We want to shine the light,” the father added. “We want to help others.”

The family has a message to anyone listening.

“Here today, it could be gone tomorrow,” Brice said. “Just enjoy each moment. Tell your kids, tell your family you love them.”

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