The fire in Haifa, which flared up from a laptop charger, caused residents and police officers to come to their rescue to be trapped on the upper floors.

• Haifa apartment, after the fire

  Photo: 

  Firefighting and Rescue Israel

Drama in Haifa: A fire broke out on the 2nd floor of 4 Agnon St. in the city today (Saturday). The burning apartment occupants escaped in the last moments before the forces arrived. As a result of the fire, residents were trapped on the upper floors of the building, and two police officers arrived. Extinguishing forces.

Four teams, under the command of Chief Reshef Ehud Ben Ezra, acted instead to rescue the occupants and extinguish the fire, until full control was achieved. Upon the arrival of the forces, a seclusion order was given to the occupants. After taking control of the combustion and releasing the smoke from the stairwell, 7 occupants were rescued, of whom 5 were children, suffering from smoke inhalation. All occupants were transferred to further MDA treatment.

Chief of the incident, Reshef Ehud Ben Ezra said: "Due to the immediate understanding of the incident, the rapid fire fighters' work to strive for contact with the fire avoided a much more severe injury to human life."

The fire investigator who arrived at the apartment that burned on SJ Agnon Street in Haifa found that the fire probably broke out as a result of a laptop being loaded onto mattresses stored in one corner of the house. About a month ago, a similar incident occurred on Bethlehem Street in Haifa.

Firefighters and rescue spokesmen said: "We are again reminded that computers and mobile phones should not be loaded on flammable surfaces. The heating generated by the charging operation, the prevention of ventilation and a flammable surface which is a large fire charge can have devastating and life-threatening consequences."