Brooklyn, NY – A mother and three children, ages 11, 7 and 3, died early Monday in fast-moving New York City house fire that also left the children’s father and two teenagers in critical condition, a fire official said.
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The fire was reported around 2:30 a.m. in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay neighborhood.
“It was early morning; everyone in the home was asleep,” Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. The fire “got a good start before a neighbor noticed and called us.”
Firefighters arrived within 2½ minutes but the flames were already “consuming” all three floors of the building, Nigro said.
“What they were confronted with is fire meeting them at the front door,” he said. “So the units, knowing there were people in the home, pushed in very aggressively.”
The mother, 40, was dead on the second floor of the single-family home. Nearby were her 3-year-old daughter, 7-year-old son and 11-year-old son.
In all, nine people were in the house — the couple, their six children and a cousin.
Sources identified the four dead as Aliza Azan and her children Moshe, Yitzchak and Hanriet.
Yosi Azan, his 16 year old daughter Shilat and his 15 year old son Daniel are all in critical condition at Staten Island Hospital.
Witnesses said that the two children jumped from the roof as fire ripped through the three story home. A younger brother and a cousin who was visiting with the family have both been released after being treated at an area hospital.
The Azan children were students at Yeshiva Ateret Torah, the same school attended by the Sasson children who died in a winter fire nearly three years ago.
The fire is believed to have been started by an unattended menorah but fire marshals could not confirm the source of the blaze at this time.
“This is a terrible tragedy, not just for this community, but for our city,” Nigro said. “This time of year, when these things strike, it just tears your heart out for the family,” Nigro said. “Our city grieves with this family today.”
Nigro said the fire was accidental but the cause was not immediately pinpointed.
Due to last night’s tragic and fatal fire in Flatbush. Chai lifeline said it has opened their 24 hour crisis line to the public. Trauma and Bereavement professionals are available and are standing by to assist you with helping yourselves, your children and your spouses in coping with this enormous tragedy. The Crisis line can be reached at 855-3-CRISIS or [email protected]
They are yidden ithink sefardi, terrible. 1st sasson nowthis.
names for Tehilim ??????????
Confirmed they were of the Syrian community
Boruch Dayan HaEmes and Refuah Shelaimah.
Horrible news.
“The fire is believed to have been started by an unattended menorah…”
A menorah still burning at 2 AM?!
ah pachad , umee baesh! korbonos tzibur –
most menorahs are out by 2am hashem yishmor
It seems to me that it is a mitsva to blowout the candles before going to sleep or out of the house.
Hashem Yerachem.
Shilat bas Aliza
Avraham ben Aliza
Daniel ben Aliza
Yosef ben Ahuva mesuda
Boroch Dayan Haemet, and Refuah Schlema to the survivors!!
To #6 - Unfortunately, there are always skeptics such as yourself. It is possible for embers from a fire, to still be burning hours after other candles have gone out. For example, this past Summer, in Borough Park, there was a grill which had been used to cook food, left on a balcony, which was not extinguished. Hours later, a large fire erupted, killing several members of a family. Please, everyone, before you go to bed, make sure that your stoves are turned off, and that all candles are extinguished. I do that every night. Also, smoke detectors and CO detectors should be checked weekly.
We need a lot of Tefillos. The tragedy of this Brooklyn family and the horrific deaths of the Jewish billionaire couple in Toronto should awaken Jews to pray for Rachmim.
B”DH and refuah shelaimah to the survivors.
Horrible, the father works in the Hatbox and he’s a true gentleman, always smiling while helping ppl in the shop, a genuinely nice person. Refuah shlaimah to the injured and may Hashem comfort them through this.
Any firefighter will tell you that multiple fatalities do not happen when working smoke detectors are present.
When the smoke clears it will be determined that as in the last tragedy, there were no functioning smoke detectors in this home.
Instead of lectures about Emunah and how this is the will of Hashem, and ideas about beautiful museums, the community should focus on the Mitzvah of Vechai Bahem.
Hashem did not want this to happen. Hashem created fire, and also the Teva which causes fire to spread. Hashem also watched man create $20 smoke detectors and gave us a Mitzvah to make sure they are in our homes. Let’s pay attention this time and prevent the next tragedy.
Tears and Tehillim
Barukh dayan ha-emet and refua shlema.
I am *very* disgusted and *deeply* ashamed that we continue to sit idly by and implicitly pretend these easily preventable tragedies will stop occurring by themselves. They will not. They will continue… unless we act properly to prevent them. We are all complicit in these easily preventable tragic deaths. It is time to implement a practical solution.
Below I present possible solution to prevent similar tragedies from occuring in the future. It is not *the* solution; rather it is *a* solution. The particular solution itself is irrelevant per se. If someone has a better solution, I will happily support it. What is relevant is implementing an effective solution because these types of tragic deaths are easily preventable.
First, here is a solution that I dislike:
How to Install a Fire Escape Ladder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JatG8KfKEbI
for various reasons.
Most importantly, I do not see how young children would be able to climb down that ladder. Also, who has time during a house fire to get the ladder? In a house fire (as opposed to, say, a forest fire) oftentimes every second counts. Really. Five or ten seconds…
… I estimate the cost of each slide (including installation) would probably be around $500 per slide. In addition I estimate excellent quality assurance would probably cost $25. Therefore an estimating total cost of around $525 per slide.
I’m estimating $250 for materials (pre-cut and pre-drilled wood, concrete, metal brackets, screws, bolts, washers, and nuts), $200 for labor, and $50 to cover the contractors travel (mileage) and tools.
I imagine two handymen at a rate of $50/hour would install each slide in two hours or four slides per day (two in the morning and two in the afternoon).
Perhaps you are thinking, “Only two hours to install each slide”? Well, first I am imagining two guys. Therefore, that would be “four-man hours.” Second, I realize four-man hours might seem to be insufficient time but once a proper system had been devised and proper tools obtained, I think that is probably a realistic estimate.
Imagine that the wooden slide were assembled like ordinary Ikea furniture with three additional tasks. First, I suppose six to eight holes would need to be drilled in the ground. I imagine an earth auger would be used like this:…
… I urge you to bring this to the attention of your Beit Din. If your Beit Din were to require fire escape slides be installed then work on a campaign to raise funds for those homeowners who need financial assistance to install the slides.
Now at least people won’t be screaming about how it’s the smoke detectors that save lives! You can run but you cannot hide from G-D!
A Tehillim campaign was started for the Azan family on the “Tehillim Together” app.
Let’s finish Tehillim over and over for them.
It is not just candles or stoves which should be checked, especially before going to bed. In my local community, a woman was cooking, and fell asleep, while there was food still cooking in the oven. Somehow, a fire started, during that process. The poor woman, died, since she was asleep while the fire broke out. Please, when you cook, never take a nap.