[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]
A 2nd alarm blaze completely destroyed a Shul in Flatbush, Thursday morning, but Bichasdei Hashem the Sifrei Torah were not heavily damaged.
The fire broke out in Rabbi Ashkenazi’s Shul, located on East 27th Street between Avenue J and K, just before 10:00AM.
This Shul is located on the first floor, with the Rov and his family living upstairs.
Within minutes, heavy flames shot through the roof, and thick smoke poured out of the windows. The heat of the fire was so intense, that it spread to the home next door, and all firefighters were removed from the building.
Hundreds of worried neighbors waited anxiously until the flames were extinguished, and the firefighters were able to enter the Bais Medrash to remove the Sifrei Torah.
Bichasdei Hashem, the Sifrei torah were not heavily damaged, and were handed to Misaskim and Hatzolah volunteers who were staging on the scene.
One firefighter was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
The cause of the fire is under investigation but the Rov mentioned to the media that he believed a candle could be the cause.
Five torahs were taken out of the structure.
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(YWN Desk – NYC)
how did this fire start
“The cause of the fire is under investigation but the Rov mentioned to the media that he believed a candle could be the cause.”
The Rov was not at home at the time, and did not know the cause. He could have said something like “I don’t know – maybe it was a candle or something.”
Now it became that he ‘believed’ that a candle could be the cause. Of course it could be the cause, but so could an electric fire, arson, or any other possibility. ‘could’ is a very unspecific term.
We must give shevach and hodah to HaKadosh Boruch Hu for this נס by strengthening our לימוד תורה!