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A fire broke out in a storage room of the Shaare Ha’ir Building located on Sarei Yisrael Street in the capital on Wednesday night. A bar mitzvah was taking place in a simcha hall in the building at the time and the guests were instructed to evacuate when the fire department and police arrived as the thick smoke bellowed into the air.

The storage room is located on the main floor and the smoke rose quite rapidly, compelling the evacuation. Five persons who were trapped were taken out by firefighters. They were on upper floors. Two were taken down from the roof by a crane ladder. They went to the roof for safety as the upper floors filled with smoke. B’chasdei Hashem no injuries are reported.

Fire Department officer Eyal Cohen explains, “The blaze began in storage rooms of the simcha hall on the entrance level of the building. Firefighters brought the fire under control quickly, and prevented the fire from reaching gas tanks stored in the facility. There were about 70 people in the simcha hall who were evacuated”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)