When the school bus dropped Jordan Marquez, 14, off in front of his family’s home on the 3500 block of Madison Avenue Monday, April 14, he wasn’t expecting to open the front door to a cloud of smoke.
“It was weird. I wasn’t expecting it at all. I couldn’t smell anything. It was contained in the house somehow,” he told the Landmark Monday.
The eighth grader said he leapt into action right away.
“I was like, ‘Wait, everybody’s inside. I got to get everybody out,’ so I ran in,” he said. “I was really shocked [and] surprised, then adrenaline kicked in. I couldn’t think.”
Jordan said he let the family’s two dogs — bull terrier Stosh and Chihuahua mix Mushu — into the backyard before going back in for his grandfather, Hector Marquez, 64, who is unable to walk.
“The door was shut, so there wasn’t a lot of smoke in his room. I opened it, and I was like, ‘There’s a fire. Come on out.’ I picked him up, and I dragged him out.”
Then, the teenager ran to Brookfield’s Fire Station 2, one house down from his family’s, and banged on the door for help. A neighbor who saw the commotion called 911 while Jordan took a more direct route.
“The fire department person came out, and he was like, ‘What’s happening?’ I was like, ‘My house is on fire right here!’” he said. “He ran back in, and maybe five minutes later, there was like three [fire] trucks out here and like 16 squad cars. It was a lot.”
One of Jordan’s neighbors, Robyn Felten, said in a story tip the fire department had said Marquez and the dogs might not have survived if Jordan arrived even five or 10 minutes later than he did. Jordan confirmed as much and said he was glad he got there when he did.
Jordan said he and his grandpa lived there with his grandma, his father and his stepmother. He said one of his father’s cigarettes was the cause of the fire.
Joan Bradley, Jordan’s grandmother, said the teen’s father would store his used cigarettes in a can in the backyard. Unbeknownst to the family, the bottom of the can, which sat on the wooden edge of a garden bed, had rusted out, so the cigarette’s embers caught the wood on fire. While there was only a small amount of exterior damage, Jordan and Bradley said heavy wind caused the fire to spread underneath the home’s siding and into the walls, causing the internal blaze.
Brookfield Fire Chief Jim Adams said Marquez was treated for minor smoke inhalation after being rescued but wasn’t taken to the hospital. The cause of the fire is still formally under investigation. He said firefighters from Riverside, LaGrange, LaGrange Park, McCook, Oak Brook, Western Springs and Summit responded and helped Brookfield douse the fire.
“Damage to the house was relatively minor, and the residents were able to still live in the house,” Adams said.
Bradley, Jordan, and his father and stepmother are staying in a hotel for the moment, but Jordan said they might be able to move into a home in LaGrange Park this week, where they’ll stay until their home is fixed with the help of insurance. Jordan’s grandfather is staying with his mother and sister, who are acting as his caregivers for the moment, Bradley said.
Jordan said his classmates and neighbors have checked in to make sure he’s OK.
“It was so scary. I was shaking for a good day or two,” he said. “I’m still shocked about it, but I’m trying to, not put it out of my mind, but calm down a little bit. It’s over, and what’s done is done.”
Felten — and even a passer-by during the interview — called Jordan a hero for saving his grandfather, but he said he has mixed thoughts on the label.
“I felt good about it, but I think I feel like there’s a little more to that. I don’t know how to really explain it,” he said. “I’m happy about being called a hero, but I think I could have done better [by] just go[ing] for my grandpa first, instead of the dogs.”
Jordan said he had two takeaways from what happened last week.
“Number one: Stop smoking,” he said. Number two: don’t ignore the smell of smoke.
“Last Monday morning, I smelled campfire, but I had a campfire with my friends outside, so I thought it was my clothes. [The fire department] said it [had] been smoldering for a little bit, so that’s probably when it started, in the morning,” Jordan said. “If you smell anything, don’t brush it off your shoulder. Just check around, make sure nothing is on fire.”
