The body of a Williamsburg-based Chasidic woman who died from burns from a two-alarm fire on January 23 is being laid to rest.
Rabbi Lipa Teitelbaum’s wife, Rebbetzin Rechel Breindel Teitelbaum, passed away on Thursday at 71.
Her burial occurred in the Satmar Cemetery in Kiryas Joel after her funeral, held on Thursday night at her husband’s beis medrash, situated at 177 Harrison Street inside the Bais Ruchel High School.
One of the 17 victims of an early morning fire at 265 Penn Street, Mrs. Teitelbaum, was taken right away to the hospital by members of Hatzalah.
The FDNY reports that the fire was reported at 6:38 AM.
When firefighters arrived on the scene less than four minutes later, they discovered the structure’s first floor to be destroyed entirely by intense flames steadily advancing to the second story.
As the fire reached the second alarm, more than 100 firefighters arrived on the site and used numerous hoses connected in series to douse the flames.
At a news conference after the fire was put out, FDNY Assistant Chief Fred Villani thanked Hatzalah members for their response, stating that many injured occupants were taken out of the building at once and that numerous medical choices had to be made quickly.
We were fortunate that one of Hatzalah’s quarters is about a half-block away, so we had plenty of assistance when we arrived, said Villani. “Hatzalah volunteers, FDNY EMTs, and paramedics triaged the remaining patients.”
The fire left several of the building’s occupants stranded in their units. Firefighters observed faces at every window as they removed security gates to evacuate inhabitants, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
The rescue operation was difficult, according to FDNY Deputy Assistant Chief John Sarrocco, who also said that tower ladders and portable ladders were both used to remove residents from the building.
The FDNY is still looking into what started the fire.
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