Azan family
Azan familyCourtesy of family

Joseph “Yosi” Azan, the husband and father of the victims who perished in a house fire in Brooklyn Monday morning, has been informed of the tragedy that has befallen his family. Hospital staff had forbidden those visiting to inform him of the scope of the tragedy due to his fragile medical state.

The three Azan family members who were hospitalized after the fire – Joseph, Shilat, and Daniel – are being treated at Staten Island University Hospital. According to Kikar Hashabbat, they are being kept sedated by doctors in order to help them recover from the disaster.

Azan was critically injured while saving two of his six children from the fire which broke out overnight in their house in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

His wife, Aliza, 39, and three of their children, Moshe, 11, Yitzchak, 7, and Henrietta perished in the blaze. Firefighters say the blaze began on the second floor of the private home, and spread to the first floor and attic.

“There were big flames shooting out the front of the house,” one witness told The New York Daily News. “Firefighters went straight into the fire.”

The Fire Department of New York said Monday that Joseph Azan likely saved two of his children’s lives – while risking his own.

Joseph had returned repeatedly to the home despite the inferno inside to rescue two of his children. Azan also attempted to rescue his wife and other children, but was unable to reach them. Joseph suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation during his heroic rescue efforts.