Two dogs, Ripley and Finn, and Max the cat. His mother adored their animals.

Bryce Salo had gone to bed early, about 9 p.m., the night of April 21, he said. He was upstairs, his parents still downstairs.

He woke after 11 p.m. to screaming. But he said he didn’t hear the sound of the electric bicycle that reportedly exploded on the enclosed porch, sparking the fire that blocked the front entrance at 109 Balsam St. in Kingsford.

Smoke rushed in when he opened the bedroom door. He made it down the stairs and out the back, his mouth covered with a towel, having to crouch because the ceiling was on fire, he said.

Bryce Salo

His father, Pat Salo, had used the back door before him. But his mother remained inside.

She probably didn’t realize how fast the fire would spread, how hot it would burn, how quickly the toxic smoke would spread, roughly 10 minutes. The bedroom shared a wall with the porch, though the flames didn’t break through, Salo said.

That didn’t matter in the end. Firefighters found 45-year-old Deanna Juranek at the foot of the bed. All three pets perished as well.

Now, her son is trying to figure out how to move forward with no home and no mother. He turned 20 in April, living for now in a hotel.

A GoFundMe effort — https://www.gofundme.com/f/ydvsc-kelsey039s-medical-expenses — had netted more than $13,250 as of Thursday. Bryce Salo says he’s had a couple offers for an apartment and possibly a mobile home.

Recreation Lanes, one of two places where Bryce Salo works, will have a benefit for him, his father and Juranek’s brother, Daniel, on June 6 at 1555 N. Stephenson Ave. in Iron Mountain. The business has served as a collection site for donations that included clothing and other items to replace what was lost in the fire.

“Bryce isn’t just an employee, he’s a member of my family, he’s one of my kids. We just want to do something to help the family,” Recreation Lanes owner Cathy Tomassoni told WLUC TV6 News on April 23.

Daniel Juranek said his sister “had a big heart,” adding, “not only was she my sister, she was my best friend.” He said after their mother Eva died in September 2010 at only age 54, Deanna took over the role of helping guide him, even though she was younger.

“Extremely nice,” Daniel Juranek said of his sister. “Bubbly personality.”

Her obituary notes “she would not want a funeral.” But a celebration of life for Deanna Juranek has been scheduled for 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, May 23, at Big 10 Sports Bar & Grill, 1157 Quinnesec Ave. in Quinnesec, according to a post on Iron Mountain Gossip & Rumors Facebook page.

Deanna Juranek was a pharmacy technician at Walgreen’s who before that had long worked in medical coding and hospital registration, according to her obituary. She and Pat Sato became a couple in 1998, with Bryce born in 2006. They moved to the area when Bryce was 7.

Her family was from the Munising area; she graduated with the Munising High School Class of 1999, according to her obituary, which can be viewed in its entirety on page A2.

A post on the Munising Informed Facebook page just after the fire called Deanna Juranek “one of the strongest, most selfless people I have ever known. She worked multiple jobs without complaint to support her family. No matter how tired she was, she always showed up for the people she loved. Her loss is unimaginable …”

A Kingsford Public Safety official said Thursday the department is still waiting for the state Fire Marshal’s report on the April 21 fire. But the department has had numerous telephone calls asking about ebicycle safety since the incident.

He advised the public go to the National Fire Protection Association’s online page, “Safety With E-Bikes and E-Scooters,” which has information that includes a safety tips sheet that can be downloaded. That page is at https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/energy-transition/ebikes.

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Betsy Bloom can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85240, or bbloom@ironmountaindailynews.com.