Faulty electric outlet likely to blame for fire that killed six family members

The funeral for six members of a Rehovot family killed in a fire Monday night began Tuesday afternoon, as hundreds of mourners accompanied the bodies to their final resting place in the city’s Marmorok cemetery.

Guy Shire, 38, and his children Eliav, 12, Eviatar, 8, Amitai, 7, Shira, 3, and Itamar, 2, were killed in the blaze. The mother of the family, Avivit, who stood outside calling for help, did not suffer any physical injuries.

Neighbors said the father rushed into the home and tried to save his children but got trapped in the blaze. The house, at 61 Israel Najara street, was already engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. Neither parents was present when the fire broke out.

On Tuesday, police announced they will form a special investigation team, in conjunction with the fire department, to probe how the fire started and whether the structure was up to code.

Initial reports indicated the blaze may have been sparked by a loose electrical outlet near the parents’ bed, which may have been connected to a mobile phone charger or similar device. Police said the house was hooked up to the electricity grid haphazardly 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.

Initial reports indicated that the small rooms and large number of mattresses helped the fire spread. Fire official Gamliel Fadida told Haaretz, it seemed the six died from smoke inhalation.

“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.

The family was reportedly ultra-Orthodox. The father is an optician and the mother a teacher in a local girls’ school, according to media reports.

Moshe Mualem, Avivit Shire’s brother-in-law, told reporters that the entire extended family was shocked at 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 where the family members died 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 the mother’s brother, who died recently from a rare disease.