‘Unimaginable grief’ for Fort Worth family who lost 5-year-old son in house fire
A Fort Worth family is grieving the loss of their 5-year-old son as two other children remain in critical condition after a June 25 house fire that destroyed everything they owned.
The 5-year-old was identified by family as Lyxander Adryan Barboza Mendoza, Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV reported.
Martha Piñon, a social worker who has been working with the family, told WFAA that Lyxander is remembered as “a joyful little boy whose faith left a lasting impression on those around him.”
“He was full of life,” Piñon said. “He prayed all the time. He spoke about Jesus. This loss is huge, and everyone’s feeling it.”
Fort Worth firefighters responded shortly after 3 a.m. to the family’s home in the 4200 block of McCart Avenue after receiving multiple calls reporting a fire, the fire department said.
Seven people including two adults and five children lived in the house. Lyxander died at the scene. Two children were taken by helicopter to the Parkland Hospital burn unit in Dallas. Another child was taken in an ambulance to a hospital in Fort Worth. A fifth child was not injured. One adult was treated at the scene; another adult was not injured, according to the fire department.
A bystander who was driving by, Leon Segura, punched through a glass door to get inside and pull two of the children out of the house before firefighters arrived.
Two children remain in critical condition in the burn unit and another child was treated for injuries, Piñon said.
Family facing unimaginable grief
The children’s mother was on her way home from the emergency room, where she had been for an illness, when the fire started. When the mother arrived, their home was fully engulfed in the fire. The family is now facing unimaginable grief, and it has been “very heartbreaking,” Piñon said.
The 17-year-old daughter remains in critical condition. “She keeps saying that she tried to save (her brother,)” Piñon said. “And I’m sure she did.”
The family is staying in a hotel near the hospital as CFS is working to help find stable housing for them, Piñon wrote in a GoFundMe organized to assist with their lodging, travel, and food expenses.
Piñon said a son dying and having two other children fighting for their lives has been overwhelming for the mother. ”She’s hardly slept,” she told WFAA.
In the “long healing process,” Piñon said community members have come together to help the family as they rebuild. She asked that the community to keep the family in their prayers as two of the children continue their recovery.
This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 2:45 PM.