Two young children were killed when their house exploded in the small Missouri town of Defiance – while they were home only because their school canceled classes due to the frigid weather.
Julian Keiser, 4, and Jamison Keiser, 6, died early Friday before they could escape or be rescued from their burning home near Highway 94 just outside St. Louis, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Their mom, Evelyn Turpiano, and grandparents, Jennifer Ham and Vern Ham, managed to escape and make it to safety, according to officials and a GoFundMe page.
“They were the sweetest little boys,” neighbor Sharon Oberlag told the outlet. “They were so cute and they thought going to school was the most fantastic thing.”
She said Julian, who had just started kindergarten, and Jameson were home at the time of the blast because their school canceled classes due to the freezing weather.
Firefighters arrived only minutes after police, but the house was already engulfed in flames and they could not reach them in time.
New Melle Fire Protection District Chief Dan Casey said the smoke-eaters went in through a window and searched for the boys.
“They weren’t able to find them right away due to the fire conditions,” Casey said, adding that the boys were later found dead.
Oberlag told KMOV that she heard “a boom, like an explosion” at the home.
“Everybody came running of course to help and, God, we never realized to lose the two little boys — it’s so sad what has happened,” she told the outlet.
“They tried, Nick and Travis, the neighbor, they tried getting the boys and they couldn’t, it’s just devastating,” Oberlag added.
The cause of the explosion and fire remains under investigation.
The building was owned by the Hoffmann Family of Companies — a Florida firm started by Missouri natives David and Jerri Hoffmann — that bought local wineries and restaurants, promising to turn the region into the Napa Valley of the Midwest, the Post-Dispatch reported.
“Our hearts are with the member of our team and their family who lost their children and grandchildren,” the company said in a statement Friday. “As family owners, we are committed to our community and supporting our employees.”
The house sat next to Defiance RoadHouse, a bar and grill managed by the tragic boys’ mom, Evelyn Marie Turpiano, according to the outlet.
Jennifer ham, Turpiano’s mother, had also managed the eatery for years, Dan Tripp, co-owner of Good News Brewing in Defiance, told the Post-Dispatch.
Tripp established a GoFundMe page for the family that has raised over $145,000 as of Monday morning. He said both women are members of the Defiance Merchants Association, a nonprofit that supports the local wine industry.
“If you ever met the boys at the Defiance Roadhouse, the Christmas Festival or the St. Patty’s Day parade you will never forget their enthusiasm for life and the joy they brought to all around them,” the fundraiser says.
“Not only will the family need to pay for two funerals, they lost their house and all of their possessions. In addition to your financial support, the family will need your prayers and emotional support as they grieve the lost of two special little boys,” it says.
Neighbor Laura Emerson stopped by to hang her Christmas wreath on a water pump near the burned house and attached two stuffed animals to it.
“Those boys were sunshine. They were bright. They were happy. They were loved,” she told Post-Dispatch.