CALGARY – Parents of an Alberta boy lost in a house fire are urging families to cherish their loved ones before it’s too late.
Two weeks ago, 10-year-old Jordan Keeler was killed when his Rockyview home went ablaze.
“My heart broke. I loved that kid,” says Jordan’s father Darren Peterson. “It’s hard that’s he’s not here.”
Jordan’s mother Phyllis Peterson remembers the night as a blur.
“I can remember standing there watching the house burn and thinking, he’s in there, and I can’t do anything.”
As the fire raged, she says Darren rushed to get his family out of the home, rescuing almost everyone before he went back one last time for Jordan.
“The neighbour had to hold him back and it’s a good thing he did because a second later the top floor collapsed. He would have been right there in the middle and we wouldn’t have had him either.”
Darren says he feels he failed because he was unable to get his son out in time. However, hundreds still feel he’s a hero. The community of Chestermere is rallying behind the family donating books, piles of clothes and furniture. A local developer has also given the family a home free of rent.
“It’s really overwhelming, it’s hard to put emotion to it. Sometimes you just go ‘wow’. You don’t know where it’s all coming from,” says Phyllis.
Despite their loss, the family is pledging to move on but will always cherish Jordan’s memory by growing closer as a family and urging others to do the same.
The cause of the blaze is expected to be announced Tuesday.
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