Mom died trying to save family, police say
Fire destroys home at 900 Mann Ave.
RENSSELAER, N.Y. » After a weekend fire destroyed a home at 900 Mann Ave. and took the lives of two adults and one child, city police are now saying the mother of the family died as a result of going back into the burning home trying to rescue her family.
Rensselaer Police Department Det. Scott Earing said Safia Alblakhi, 68, Monzalah Alshami, 41, and Aymen Alshami, 8, died in the fire. The father, who was working at the time, was not home when the blaze occurred.
City of Rensselaer Fire Department was called to the scene at about 4:42 a.m. Sunday and found a fully-involved structure fire.
Earing said 17-year-old Motasam Alshami was originally taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while 16-year-old Rafa Alshami was flown to Syracuse in critical condition with burns on a third of her body.
Earing said he heard media reports, but could not immediately confirm, the older brother was recently released from the hospital.
Earing said that Monzalah Alshami originally escaped the fire with her 17-year-old son after jumping out of a second-story window, but then she decided to
go back into the burning home through the front door to try to rescue more of her family.
“The son tried to stop her but once she was back inside the room was engulfed in flames and he couldn’t get in,” Earing said.
The blaze was the second tragedy to shake the city this weekend as Brianna L. Beebe, 26, the mother of two children, was found dead in the Hudson River on Saturday, one day after being reported missing, with foul play not being suspected.
Earing said that community support has been strong during a challenging weekend for the city. He added a vigil was held at the scene Sunday night with roughly 200 people in attendance.
According to a Facebook post, the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Rensselaer County are hosting a day-long community fundraiser for the Beebe and Alshami families on Sunday March 18. From 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. there will be a pancake breakfast fundaiser and then from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. there will be a haircuts for hope fundraiser, both at the Southern Rensselaer County Boys and Girls Club, located at 544 Broadway.
“The community support has been amazing, not just for this [fire] incident but the other incident as well,” Earing said.
Earing said he expects to have a cause of the fire sometime Friday afternoon.
A GoFundMe memorial fund has been set up for Brianna Beebe at https:// www.gofundme.com/ brianna-beebe-memorialfund and one has also been set up to help the Alshami family at https:// www.gofundme.com/ alshami-house-fire-inrensselaerny