A fire was reported at 6:00AM Tuesday morning in the Maalot Daphne neighborhood of Jerusalem, in a 4-story residential structure on Mikveh Yisrael Street.

Firefighters broke into the locked apartment, fearing the occupants may be trapped inside. A search of the apartment revealed it was empty.

The preliminary investigation into the cause of the fire revealed that a collection of old toys in bags, stored together with old batteries. The batteries at some point created a spark, leading to the fire.

The fire department reminds citizens:
• Avoid placing too many batteries together, even if they are old batteries, residual energy still stored in batteries, can cause the batteries to be heated and ignited.

• Be sure to avoid placing a number of batteries together, near fabrics and flammable materials.

• When replacing batteries, place them in a safe place, and at the first opportunity, discard them to a battery recycling facility.

If one looks at the photos, one sees that Baruch Hashem, the seforim shrank was not damaged in the fire as was the remainder of the room.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Jerusalem Fire Service Spokesman Unit)