Hundreds attend funeral of Rehovot family killed in house fire

The funeral for a father and his five young children who perished in a fire that burned down their home on Monday was held at Marmorek cemetery in Rehovot Tuesday afternoon.

Prayers were held at the victims’ home and were broadcast to the hundreds of people who had gathered in the street outside the home. Still larger crowds accompanied the funeral procession to the cemetery.

Government ministers, members of Knesset and local council members attended. The sole surviving member of the family, mother Avivit, did not attend the funeral.

“How can you explain a tragedy like this? Woe to us, on this day of judgement, how did you leave us,”  cried chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger at the funeral.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the tragedy caused him deep shock. “We all can understand the pain of the mother. We will do all we can to help the family.”

Guy Shire, 38, and his children Eliav, 12, Eviatar, 8, Amitai, 7, Shira, 3, and Itamar, 2, were killed in the blaze, which erupted late Monday night and destroyed the home rapidly. The children were asleep at the time; Guy, who was not at home but was nearby, rushed into the flames to try to save his children but was overcome. His body was found near the entrance to the small home, which was constructed of building blocks with an asbestos ceiling.

Avivit stood outside the building as the home burned, yelling for help.

Metzger, speaking to the mother before the funeral, praised her as “an exemplary educator.” He said, “You and Guy raised a glorious family. Guy was noble, modest… I heard dozens of words of praise for him… There can be no explanations for what has happened. We simply have to find the strength to carry on.”

The family were described by neighbors as pleasant and active members of the community.

Initial investigations indicate that the fire began with an electrical short.

It is believed that a spark from a cellphone charger or a computer plug, plugged into a loose electrical outlet, may have set fire to the parents’ bedding and from there spread rapidly through the 40-square-meter building.

The house, at 61 Israel Najara street, was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.

Police said the house was hooked up to the electricity grid in a haphazard fashion and are investigating whether it was in a habitable state or even had the required permits to function as living quarters. Investigators also believe that the father’s efforts to save his children by opening the door and a window may have allowed air to feed the flames, worsening the situation.

“The building was not fit for habitation,” fire chief Shahar Ayalon told Channel 10 Monday night. “It lacked basic fire safety protection.”

“All of them were dead when we found them,” the general manager of rescue service Magen David Adom, Eli Bean, said at the scene. “There was nothing for us to do but formally pronounce them dead… [The fire] burned down the entire house,” he said.

Guy was an optician; Avivit is a teacher in a local girls’ school.

Moshe Mualem, Avivit’s brother-in-law, told reporters that the entire extended family was devastated by the tragedy. He said the mother was incapable of fathoming her loss.

“We have yet to absorb the magnitude of the disaster. We don’t know what to do,” said Mualem.

Mualem said that the house was only a temporary residence for the family while their house in Be’er Ya’akov was being renovated, and was only used for sleeping in. He said the family spent most of the time in the grandparents’ house next door.

The family had just completed the traditional seven days of mourning over Avivit’s brother, who died recently of a rare disease.