PLANTATION, Fla. – Families in Plantation’s Jacaranda Lakes neighborhood are coming together to raise money online for a beloved piano teacher who lost everything, including his son and his home in an early morning fire Saturday.
Neighbors were still reeling Saturday afternoon as Plantation Fire Crews put out hot spots after the deadly early morning house.
Firefighters responded to the blaze on Northwest 99th Avenue early Saturday morning.
“Smoke started coming out of the house about 5 in the morning and the owner was knocking on the door and said, ‘My house is on fire.’ They called 911,” Shari Wallack, who lives in the neighborhood, said.
Firefighters were able to pull one person to safety, while a second person was later found dead in a bedroom.
“Smoke, lights, seemed like at least 25 fire trucks police cars, total chaos,” Pamela Schiff, who lives nearby, said.
Neighbors told Local 10 the person who died was a 45-year-old man who lived in the home with his father.
Plantation Fire Deputy Chief Joel Gordon said the initial call came from a neighbor who said the house next door was on fire.
First responders arrived to find flames coming from a bedroom of the home, and firefighters quickly began attacking the flames.
“He lost his son and it’s a horrible tragedy and we’re all kind of shocked,” Wallack said.
The fundraising page said the man who survived the fire was Ronald Peters, and that his son, Aaron, died in the fire. Peters, according to the page, is a former concert pianist from Ohio and lived in Plantation for over 30 years. “He has taught many students for many years at his home. Dr. Peters lost all his music, his piano, and his joy of teaching from not just the pandemic but also from this terrible fire.”
To visit the page, click here.
An investigation into the cause of the fire continues.