Firefighting teams were called to extinguish a fire which had broken out in a Jerusalem home early Tuesday morning.
Several teams of firefighters arrived at the team and shortly thereafter succeeded in breaking through the apartment's front door, searching for victims while working to extinguish the flames and ventilate the apartment and building.
A search of the apartment revealed that no one was present at the time of the fire.
Initial investigations revealed that the fire started due to a pile of old toys stored in bags together with a large number of old batteries and placed near the entrance to the apartment.
At some point, the tips of the batteries touched each other, causing sparks and heat and eventually sparking a fire near the door.
Fire chief Eli Edri, who commanded the operation, said, "We were called during the morning hours to the Ma'alot Dafna neighborhood, after someone reported a significant fire in an apartment in the neighborhood. We arrived at the scene and saw a thick plume of smoke rising from an apartment on the second floor of a four-story building. We were also concerned people might be trapped in the apartment."
"We broke into the apartment, and behind the door we saw a huge fire. A search of the apartment revealed that no one was trapped. Luckily, the parents and their eight children were spending the night at their grandmother's. The source of the fire was near the door and the flames blocked the entrance, so if they had not spent the night at their grandmother's, they would have been trapped in the burning apartment.
"We are happy that this fire ended with no injuries and a Purim miracle for the family."
