Less than two weeks before Passover, a terrible disaster destroyed an entire family in a fire that consumed a two-room housing unit in the town of Rehovot.
Six members of the Shaer family died: the father Guy, 38, and five children, ages 18 months to 11.
Fire officials said that when they arrived, they discovered a horrible sight. “Although we arrived quickly at the crowded street of this small neighborhood, but by the time we had entered the place, we already fund the dead children,” said one firefighter. “The severe consequences resulted from the rapid spread of the fire, and we weren’t able to attempt any rescue effort.”
The Shaer family moved into the apartment a few weeks ago to be close to Mrs. Shaer’s mother who lives in a nearby building. Guy and his wife, Avivit, a teacher at the Tzivia Ulpana in Rehovot, were with the grandmother when the fire broke out. Guy rushed into the house to save his children but was killed himself. Avivit was not injured in the fire, but collapsed and went into shock. Social workers were assigned to her, to try and calm her. Mayor Tahamim Melloul, ordered his Welfare Division to assist the mother as much as possible.
