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| Menorah Blamed for Brooklyn Fire That Killed Mother and 3 Children | Menorah Blamed for Brooklyn Fire That Killed Mother and 3 Children |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| It was the sixth night of Hanukkah, and in a front room of the Azan family’s three-story Brooklyn home was an oil-burning menorah. The family placed it where the Talmud says to: in the window, so a passer-by could see. | It was the sixth night of Hanukkah, and in a front room of the Azan family’s three-story Brooklyn home was an oil-burning menorah. The family placed it where the Talmud says to: in the window, so a passer-by could see. |
| As the family slept around 2 a.m. on Monday, flames leapt from near the menorah, starting a fire that killed three Azan children and their mother and badly injured their father and other children, the Fire Department said. | As the family slept around 2 a.m. on Monday, flames leapt from near the menorah, starting a fire that killed three Azan children and their mother and badly injured their father and other children, the Fire Department said. |
| The menorah, about two feet wide, burned oil held in small glass cups. Fire marshals suspect the glass may have cracked under extended heat exposure, spilling oil and spreading flames, a Fire Department official said. | The menorah, about two feet wide, burned oil held in small glass cups. Fire marshals suspect the glass may have cracked under extended heat exposure, spilling oil and spreading flames, a Fire Department official said. |
| From the first floor, the fire proceeded to rip through the Sheepshead Bay home, hurtling up two sets of staircases and trapping part of the family inside as others fled through a side door or jumped down from a second-floor landing. | From the first floor, the fire proceeded to rip through the Sheepshead Bay home, hurtling up two sets of staircases and trapping part of the family inside as others fled through a side door or jumped down from a second-floor landing. |
| After firefighters extinguished the blaze, the mother, Aliza Azan, 39, was found dead on the second floor. So too, the police said, were Moshe Azan, 11; Yitzah Azan, 7; and Henrietta Azan, 3. They had all been asleep there. | After firefighters extinguished the blaze, the mother, Aliza Azan, 39, was found dead on the second floor. So too, the police said, were Moshe Azan, 11; Yitzah Azan, 7; and Henrietta Azan, 3. They had all been asleep there. |
| The children’s father, Yosi Azan, ran through the second floor as flames clawed at him, trying to save his family, officials said. He helped a teenage son and teenage daughter out a window and onto the first-floor roof. They hesitated to jump, and so Mr. Azan apparently helped nudge them off the roof to safety, according to an account given to investigators. | The children’s father, Yosi Azan, ran through the second floor as flames clawed at him, trying to save his family, officials said. He helped a teenage son and teenage daughter out a window and onto the first-floor roof. They hesitated to jump, and so Mr. Azan apparently helped nudge them off the roof to safety, according to an account given to investigators. |
| When Mr. Azan reached the ground himself, he told a fire chief there were four people left inside, but the fire and smoke were too thick for firefighters to push through right away, the fire official said. | When Mr. Azan reached the ground himself, he told a fire chief there were four people left inside, but the fire and smoke were too thick for firefighters to push through right away, the fire official said. |
| Both teenagers broke bones, one of them a pelvis. Mr. Azan and the two teenagers were taken to Staten Island University Hospital, where they were in critical condition and “fighting for their lives,” Daniel A. Nigro, the New York City fire commissioner, said. The father was believed to have internal burns from inhaling smoke. | Both teenagers broke bones, one of them a pelvis. Mr. Azan and the two teenagers were taken to Staten Island University Hospital, where they were in critical condition and “fighting for their lives,” Daniel A. Nigro, the New York City fire commissioner, said. The father was believed to have internal burns from inhaling smoke. |
| Mr. Nigro said of the father, “I believe he acted very courageously and tried desperately, and hopefully it didn’t cost his life, too.” | Mr. Nigro said of the father, “I believe he acted very courageously and tried desperately, and hopefully it didn’t cost his life, too.” |
| Neighbors across the street called 911, and firefighters arrived two minutes and 40 seconds later. They confronted a home that was engulfed, Mr. Nigro said. | |
| Two younger teenagers asleep in a back bedroom on the first floor, one of them a cousin of the Azan children, escaped out a side door with less serious injuries. They heard a smoke detector alarm and yelled to alert other members of their family, Mr. Nigro said. They were taken to Maimonides Medical Center. | Two younger teenagers asleep in a back bedroom on the first floor, one of them a cousin of the Azan children, escaped out a side door with less serious injuries. They heard a smoke detector alarm and yelled to alert other members of their family, Mr. Nigro said. They were taken to Maimonides Medical Center. |
| The teenagers helped lead fire marshals to the cause when they told them that the menorah had been left burning after they went to sleep and that they saw the fire start nearby. Investigators recovered remnants of the broken menorah. | The teenagers helped lead fire marshals to the cause when they told them that the menorah had been left burning after they went to sleep and that they saw the fire start nearby. Investigators recovered remnants of the broken menorah. |
| Investigators had not found other smoke alarms beyond the one that activated on the first floor. The Fire Department recommends that people install them on every floor of a home. | Investigators had not found other smoke alarms beyond the one that activated on the first floor. The Fire Department recommends that people install them on every floor of a home. |
| Five or six firefighters were injured, though none seriously, officials said. | Five or six firefighters were injured, though none seriously, officials said. |
| “Over the last couple days, several other major fires have caused many injuries — some very serious — and displaced others from their homes,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “During the holiday season, we all need to be cautious with decorations, electric lights, candles, space heaters and other items.” | “Over the last couple days, several other major fires have caused many injuries — some very serious — and displaced others from their homes,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “During the holiday season, we all need to be cautious with decorations, electric lights, candles, space heaters and other items.” |
| Two years ago, seven children were killed nearby when a hot plate warming food for the Sabbath started a fire in a family home. Mr. Azan had posted about it on Facebook. | |
| “I know the family,” he wrote. “It’s something that is beyond comprehension. Three of the children study with my children. 7 children.” | |
| In all, nine people were in the home at 1946 East 14th Street: a mother and father, their six children and a cousin. | In all, nine people were in the home at 1946 East 14th Street: a mother and father, their six children and a cousin. |
| The Azans are Syrian Jews who immigrated to the United States from Israel about 15 years ago, said Abby, 50, a relative of Ms. Azan who declined to give his last name. | The Azans are Syrian Jews who immigrated to the United States from Israel about 15 years ago, said Abby, 50, a relative of Ms. Azan who declined to give his last name. |
| Ms. Azan cooked scrumptious Mediterranean meals for her six children, laughed with her husband’s constant jokes and kept the home a welcoming place for a stream of visitors, Abby said. Mr. Azan is a manager at a nearby clothing store called Hat Box, which sells shirts and shoes, and is known for his friendly service and for always giving his customers deals, said Avi Navon, 59. | |
| Ms. Azan’s father, Avraham Hamra, is considered the chief rabbi of Syrian Jewry and is said to have helped hundreds of Jews escape to Israel. | |
| The four bodies arrived in a procession of police-escorted vehicles shortly after 7 p.m. Monday at Congregation Shevet Achim, a synagogue tucked between homes on a residential block of Sheepshead Bay crowded with mourners, police officers and members of the Flatbush Shomrim Safety Patrol, a Jewish neighborhood watch group. | |
| But a planned service inside the synagogue did not happen, police officers and Shomrim volunteers said, because of the size of the crowd, as well as the timing: During Hanukkah, the types of mourning expressions allowed in certain Jewish traditions are limited. | |
| Instead, the vehicles, including a hearse with its rear gate raised, paused for several minutes on the street outside. Mourners, many chanting prayers, surged around the vehicles and then fell in line behind the cortège as it rolled slowly toward Coney Island Avenue, where the crowd dispersed, en route to Kennedy Airport. | |
| One mourner who would only identify himself as Sonny, 23, said that as a child in Brooklyn he had attended the same school as the victims. He now lives in New Jersey, but felt it important to be present. | |
| “Any time there’s a tragedy in the community, every single person has to feel and be part of what happened,” Sonny said. “We can’t change the past, but the only thing we could do is try to fill a little of the pain and the hole that the family has, and that’s by coming out and escorting their precious ones.” | |