House fire that left 4 dead in New York City sparked by 'lit menorah'

— -- An "unattended lit menorah" was the source of a fire that killed a Brooklyn woman and her three children during Hanukkah, the New York City Fire Department said.

Around 2 a.m. on Monday, a fire tore through the first floor of a three-floor home in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Aliza Azan, 39; her sons Moshe, 11, and Yitzah, 7; and her daughter Henrietta, 3, were killed in the fire, police confirmed.

Azan's husband and four other family members escaped the fire but have been hospitalized, officials said, declining to name them.

FDNY Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said Monday during a press conference outside the charred house that firefighters arrived in "less than three minutes" and that "in that short period of time, the fire met them at the front door."

He said that nine people were in the house at the time, and the father of the family managed to escape the home from the second floor and save two teenagers. Two of the couple's other sons, who were sleeping on the first floor, also managed to escape.

But the father was too late to save his wife and three small children.

"He tried to go back in and save the rest of his family, the ones he didn't already save," said Nigro. "We believe he acted courageously and tried desperately."

Firefighters charged into the burning home and found Azan and the three younger children dead upstairs," he said. Their cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner's office, officials said.

"[The firefighters] acted very aggressively for this building to try and rescue these folks. Unfortunately, it was too late," Nigro said.

The father and the two teenagers remain in critical condition, and Nigro said they are "are fighting for their lives" at Staten Island University Hospital. The two other boys are being treated at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn for less severe injuries.

Firefighters got the three-alarm fire under control after more than two hours. Five firefighters were transported to local hospitals for minor injuries and released after battling the blaze, officials said.

Nigro said that the home had a smoke alarm that activated and managed to wake the children on the first floor, as well as stir the attention of a neighbor across the street.

"The boys on the first floor did hear it," Nigro said of the alarm, which has not yet been recovered from the destroyed home. "They alerted folks that there was a fire, and I believe the people that called [911] from across the street also heard an alarm that was activated."

The fire department has ruled the fire an accident.

Nigro said that the time of year makes the loss of life "that much sadder" and stressed the importance of safety around the holidays. He also said lit candles should never be left unattended.

"Our traditions open us up to more possibilities," he said. "I caution every year: Celebrate but celebrate safely."