SHEPPARDS — A six-company house fire claimed the life of a child and displaced 10 people early Thursday, October 23, according to Farmville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Andrew Goss.

The fire, according to Goss, was reported at approximately 12:48 a.m. at a home at the intersection of Stage Coach Road and U.S. Route 15 at Sheppards in southern Buckingham.

As The Herald was going to press Thursday morning, Goss, one of the first firemen on the scene, reported that one of the 11 residing in the home died in the fire. Goss identified the victim as a child.

The remaining 10 were transported to Centra Southside Community Hospital in Farmville for medical treatment, Goss said, and were eventually transported to the UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville.

Virginia State Police is investigating the cause of the fire, according to Goss.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that it started in the first level of the house on the first floor…” he told The Herald Thursday. “We think it started at the front of the house towards, maybe, the kitchen. There’s no word of what exactly started it yet,” the chief explained.

The home is considered a total loss, explained Goss.

Along with Farmville, volunteer fire departments from Toga, Dillwyn, Arvonia, Randolph, and Cumberland responded, cited Goss.

At press time, The Herald hadn’t received a statement on the incident from State Police.

Teresa Davis, of Hill and Davis CPA PC in Dillwyn, will be collecting donations for the family on Friday, October 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at her Dillwyn office, located just south of Sprouse’s Corner on U.S. Route 15, at 14303 South James Madison Highway, adjacent to the former Video Vibrations. For more information, contact Davis at 434-983-5200.