Kiera Grasby said she and Alexander Jacobs were homeless together and that she wouldn’t be alive with him.
“Lots of times, when I thought I was going to die or I had something terrible happen to me, he’d hold me and he’d cry,” she said, standing outside of the charred remains of the house where Jacobs used to live.
Andrew Falle and Brooke McMahon were visiting Jacobs on Friday night. They both said he was their best friend and that they’re both in still in shock.
“My buddy was inside and I was hopeless standing on the ground because I was couldn’t help him and I knew he was on the third floor,” Falle said, describing the moments after his escape.
The Saskatoon Fire Department received the first calls about the house fire, in the 500 block of Albert Street, at nearly 2:30 a.m. on Friday morning.
By the time they arrived it was already fully engulfed in flames.
Firefighters entered the home at 2:53 a.m. and found the body of 25-year-old Jacobs at 3:04 a.m. He would have turned 26 on Aug. 13.
McMahon and Falle were able to escape because Falle smashed out the second-floor bathroom window before he and his partner fell to the landing, which he estimates was about three metres below.
He said he then jumped to the ground, another two metres down, before McMahon jumped into his arms.
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“He saved my life,” she said.
“He’s my ultimate hero. I’ll never go anywhere without him.”
Falle said the couple then walked to the front of the house and knew their friend was still inside.
“The whole house was engulfed in flames. At this point there’s nothing that we could do. We were just… it was frantic, it was terrible.”
Grasby wasn’t there but said she went into shock when she learned of the death of her friend, known as AJ.
“I was in the fetal position on the side of the highway (on Sunday) coming home. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t function” she told Global News.
She said she wanted to properly remember and commemorate her friend of more than a decade. And Carla Hough hopes she can help.
Hough started a GoFundMe campaign for the six survivors of the fire. She told Global News most of the money would now go to pay for Jacob’s funeral.
“It’s everything that anyone can do right now, to help as much as they can,” she said.
Hough, whose son and ex-partner lived in the house and were home when the fire started, set a goal of $15,000 for the online fundraiser.
She said any extra will go to the survivors.
“I feel very grateful because there’s not very many people who would step forward and help out a family, especially that they don’t even know,” Falle said, referring to Jacob’s family.
“He was always there for me, whenever I needed him,” McMahon said.
“He was my brother. We had conversations that he never had with my boyfriend, and they were best friends,” she told Global News of her friendship.
“It’s a miracle that I met him because he’s just such an amazing person,” Falle added.
All three said they’ll work to promote safety and help find the cause of the fire.
A Saskatoon Fire Department spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing, that they haven’t determined the cause yet and estimated the damage at $400,000.
— With files from Jacqueline Wilson
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