Tragedy struck Brooklyn on Monday night, December 18, when a mother and three children, ages 11, 7, and 3, died in fast-moving house fire that also left the children’s father and two teenagers in critical condition.
Police identified the four deceased 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. In all, nine people were in the house — the couple, their six children, and a cousin.
The fire was discovered and called in at around 2:00 a.m. by neighbors.
“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 two-and-a-half minutes but the flames were already “consuming” all three floors of the building, Nigro said.
According to the FDNY, working smoke detectors were present in the home at the time that the three-alarm fire occurred. The fire is believed to have been started by an unattended menorah.
The father, Yosef, courageously saved the lives of two other children – who are listed in critical condition. He attempted once more to enter the inferno to rescue his wife and three children, but was unable to. He too is listed in critical condition, suffering burns and smoke inhalation.
“He was able to get out of the second floor, he was severely burned, he tried to get back in to save the rest of his family, the ones that he didn’t already save, we believe he acted very courageously and tried desperately and hopefully it didn’t cost his life also,” Nigro said.
Witnesses said that the two children jumped from the roof as fire ripped through the 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 levaya for the members of the Azan Family was held on Monday night in Flatbush. Thousands of people lined Avenue T, as vehicles carrying the four niftarim were slowly driven in front of the Shevet Achim Shul near East 7th Street. The niftarim were then taken to Eretz Yisroel for the levaya and kevura.
Baruch Dayan HaEmet.
Please continue to say tehilim for Shilat bat Louza Aliza (16), Daniel ben Louza Aliza (15), Avraham ben Louza Aliza (13), and Yosef ben Ahuva Masuda – the father.
Tragic Fire In Brooklyn Claims The Lives Of Mother And Three Children
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