The sixth night of Hanukkah turned into an unthinkable tragedy for a Brooklyn family when a fire sparked by their menorah gutted the home, killing three young children and their mother, FDNY officials said on Monday.
Aliza and Yosef Azan and their six kids celebrated the holiday Sunday evening by lighting the large olive oil-fueled candelabra that neighbors said proudly graced the front window of the family’s Sheepshead Bay home.
But they failed to extinguish the candles before going to bed, and the flames set the curtain, couch and rug ablaze, a police source said.
Moments later, the three-story residence on East 14th Street in Sheepshead Bay was engulfed.
The blaze killed Aliza, 39, Henrietta, 3, Moshe, 11, and Yitzchak, 7 (all pictured below, left to right).
Yosef, 45, braved the intense heat and smoke to help daughter Shalit, 16, and son Daniel, 15, escape via the roof and was badly burned rushing back inside to save others.
“We believe that he acted very courageously and tried desperately,” FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro told reporters outside the gutted building.
“Hopefully, it didn’t cost his life also, but it may.”
Daniel jumped out of a window and shattered his pelvis, officials said, and all three were taken to Long Island University in critical condition.
The family’s other child, 13-year-old Avraham, and a cousin had been sleeping on the first floor and were awakened by the smoke alarm, allowing them to escape through a side door with less severe injuries, officials said.
“I heard someone screaming, ‘Get out of the house!’ I heard windows breaking. I thought someone was going into the house and breaking windows and killing people,” recalled one neighbor who declined to give her name.
A neighbor also heard the smoke alarm and called 911, and firefighters were on the scene in minutes.
But the blaze was already at the front door by the time they arrived. Once inside, the firefighters found the four family members dead inside, Nigro said.
Video footage shows flames shooting out the windows as New York’s Bravest attempted to get inside.
“You couldn’t go near the house. The heat was so hot,” said the husband of the neighbor who called 911.
It was heartbreak amid a joyful holiday, family members said.
“It’s Hanukkah now. It’s a sad day,” said Abby, 50, a cousin of Aliza.
Friends described the Azans as a loving, devout family.
“They were a beautiful family. I heard them singing every Friday night. This is such a tragedy,” one neighbor said as tears streamed down his face.
And they weren’t surprised to hear that Yosef — known as Yosi — had charged back into danger to save his children.
“For sure, he was giving his life for his kids. Yosi? One hundred percent,” another neighbor said.
Yosef is a longtime employee at the Coney Island Avenue menswear store Hat Box, where co-workers said he is a popular fixture.
“He is an amazing guy,” said colleague David Nathan, 35. “Everyone loves him. A thousand people love him . . . He made everyone happy.”
He always offers a discount to those in need, another family friend said.
“Anyone who doesn’t have money, their family doesn’t have money, he will take care of them — 20 percent off, 30 percent off. If you can’t pay now, you pay later. And he is so humble,” said the man, who declined to give his name.
On Monday afternoon, Yosef lay unconscious in the burn unit at Staten Island University Hospital, his neck scarred and blackened with tubes attached to his body.
The fire was heartbreakingly reminiscent of a 2015 blaze that killed seven children of another Orthodox family in nearby Midwood — some of whom had attended school with the Azan kids.
“I know the family. It’s something you can’t understand. Three of the kids are studying with my kids,” Yosef wrote of the Sassoon children on Facebook at the time.
The Azan children had attended the private Yeshivat Ateret Torah school with the Sassoon kids, according to Yeshiva World.
The Sassoons’ house went up in flames when a hot plate left on for the Sabbath malfunctioned. The children who died were ages 5 to 16. Their mother and a teenage daughter escaped.
Nigro said Monday’s tragedy offered a seasonal warning for people of all faiths.
“For all of our faiths, we all use candles,” he said.
“Tragedy strikes at this time of year, and . . . the time of year makes it that much sadder, and our traditions open us up to more possibilities.”
The funeral for the Azans was held at Sheves Achim on Avenue T on Monday evening.
The bodies were then scheduled to be sent on a midnight flight to Israel, where Aliza’s father, Rabbi Albert Hamra, is a leader in the Syrian Jewish community.
Additional reporting Reuven Fenton, Nick Fugallo, Igor Kossov and Sarah Trefethen