The couple Esther and David Khouri called the firefighters after they smelled a strong smell of smoke spreading in the house. The firefighters put out the fire and left. A few hours later, the apartment caught fire and burned down. The couple claims that the fire crews entered their burnt house without permission in order to disrupt the investigation and its conclusions
The couple David and Esther Khoury have lived in their home in the city of Safed for decades, and they are still paying the mortgage on it. At the fifth candle of Hanukkah, Esther smelled the pungent smell of smoke that spreads in a house made of wood. She called the fire brigade that arrived, and they discovered that next to the chimney pipe, on the second floor, there were two mattresses that caught fire due to the intense heat. The firemen pulled the mattresses into the courtyard of the house, opened the windows and made sure that the house was ventilated. At the same time, the firefighters extinguished the burning mattresses, and advised the family members not to stay in the apartment during the night and to evacuate to another apartment, until the smoke and the pungent smell dissipate. But in the middle of the night, David and Esther were urgently called to their house, which had already caught fire and burned down.
Esther Khoury told Ynet: “I’m grieving. It’s like losing someone. All the clothes, jewelry and photos – everything is gone. We’re two weeks after our daughter’s wedding and there’s nothing left of the things we bought.” Her husband David and she have been left homeless since the end of last week, and all their possessions were burned. According to them, it was the negligence of the firefighters that caused their house to burn down. The couple claims that the fire crews entered their burnt house without permission to disrupt the squeak and its conclusions. The Fire and Rescue Authority responds to the accusations and claims that the activity of the investigators was carried out according to the law and with authority, as part of the arson investigation. On the other hand, the fire brigade does not rule out that it may have been possible to prevent the heavy damage.
“Three hours after we left the house, we received a call from the police who woke us up. They asked if there was anyone at home and said there was a problem,” said David. “They explained to us that the house was on fire, I told them that the fire was extinguished and everything was fine. I didn’t imagine that I would hear that it ignited again, and this time it was no longer possible to save it. We have no doubt that the mattresses were not properly extinguished, and they caused a wooden bench on which they were suspended near the wall of the house to catch fire. The wall caught fire from the fire and caused the entire house to burn down.”
David works as a teacher, his wife Esther is visually impaired, and the two were left with nothing after their property caught fire. Esther said: “I was very confused about whether to take the jewelry with me. Someone told me to take them, but when we left the house in the evening after the mattresses were turned off, I left them behind. My heart aches for the house and all our clothes and equipment. Everything burned and we were left with nothing.”
The couple belong to the Chabad community, and they started a fundraising campaign on their behalf under the title “Bringing the Hori family home”.
David who alleges unusual conduct by the HC said, “A man in civilian clothes came to us at noon, he entered the house and started taking pictures. The children asked who he was and he said he came from the fire department, but did not give his name. They asked him to leave and after he left, they saw that he had moved the mattress that was burned in the yard and it was on the path next to the wall, and not a watch on it, at a distance of three meters from the wall. The wooden bench that was fixed to the wall was moved to the middle of the yard. On Sunday, when we returned to visit the burned house, the mattress that was in the yard was completely gone.”
A complaint was filed with the police last week by the Khouri couple against the fire services, “This disaster was not supposed to happen to us, we feel a great loss,” says David. “We bought some clothes and we are asking for help to get us out of this crisis. Rabbi Ma’oda from the Chabad community took care of us for a temporary apartment and we want to go home”
The lawyers representing the couple are David and Haya Mena. The lawyer David Mena accused: “The state authorities think of themselves as ordinary citizens, and use their powers to commit crimes and enter the house, not to inspect or investigate, but to prepare for investigations into their negligence.”
He added and said: “I suggest to the fire commissioner to do a home inspection of the fire services and not let the hafif culture take over. There is always a few minutes to wait before leaving, to make sure that the fire has stopped completely. According to him, “In the claims for the damage caused by the fires in Carmel and the Jerusalem forest that we handled, firefighters arrived without water or that it was late in arriving. The lessons of the past must be learned.”
Appraiser Moshe Stern came to the house and valued the tiara at about one and a half million shekels. “The mortgage insurance only covers the structure and not the internal contents. It hurts my heart to see this damage. He claimed that the alleged tampering with the evidence, and the fact that the house burned down as a result of a mattress left there, “is proven evidence of a firefighting failure. It’s just a failure that the mattress is gone. Now we can’t send a private fire investigator.”
The fire and rescue services in the Galilee and Golan area, which are responsible for the Safed area, reject the complaints as an attempt to disrupt the investigation, and according to them, the circumstances of the fire are being investigated very seriously and professionally. Deputy Inspector Natan Benshimol said: “Immediately after the incident, an investigation team was established under the direction of the district commander. According to him, “The team was at the scene and checked things in depth. Among other things, it was checked whether a factor that could catch fire was left in the arena after the first visit and likely contributed to the fire. The team of firefighters acted thoroughly and professionally, at the same time, if faults are discovered in their work, we will study the matter.”
Benshimol added to the conclusion, “The sole authority of the fire investigation officer is to examine and examine the scene from all aspects and for this reason we reject any claim that he exceeded his authority and responsibility and moved or damaged evidence as part of his work. This is a complex fire at a difficult scene and the firefighters worked with great dedication to prevent The spread of the fire to additional houses and wider damage to property and human life, God forbid.”