Fire Breaks Out at Camp, Kids Sent Home

This past Shabbos morning a fire broke out at Yeshivas Kayitz of Hartford, CT. BH campers got out fine and there were no injuries. The campers have been sent home till the camp can find a place to relocate to. The Yeshivas Kayitz started a emergency relief fund to help the camp get through this difficult period.

Rabbi Eli Sandhaus gives his account of what happened

Friday had been a long day in our small Yeshivas Kayitz for bochurim averaging 14 years old, and the hour was late. We had spent the day doing Mivtzoyim, learning, cleaning our house, and preparing for Shabbos. Cleaning our house meant the four bedrooms, four bathrooms, two living rooms, dining room, a nice sized kitchen, a patio, two porches, and a Shul. In addition, we cared for the large outside lawn.

A friend of mine, who had come for Shabbos, was Chazan for Kabbolas Shabbos after which we had our Shabbos meal where the boys stayed up really late telling stories, singing, Farbrenging and just experiencing the beautiful Shabbos atmosphere. After they had settled down for the night, my friend and I continued to Farbreng until about two a.m. at which time we decided to head a short ‘nap’ before morning Chassidus.

Although everyone else in the house was still asleep, my ‘nap’ ended abruptly at 7:27 precisely, to the sound of alarms and the smell of smoke. I quickly woke up counselor Shuki and asked him to check out the kitchen. To be honest, I didn’t think it was more than a smoking Cholent pot which the counselor would turn off for safety and things would be ok. But I had only just begun to get dressed when I heard Shuki call urgently: “Hurry! Everyone out of the house!” Together with the other counselors, I calmly woke the boys up and within 25 seconds we were all out of the house. Our electric stove had overheated and the flames in the kitchen were reaching the ceiling or, in other words, the floor of a bedroom above. Immediately after accounting for everyone and making certain another counselor was phoning the fire department, the next most important thing came to mind: the Torah and Tefillin inside our shul. I ran in, grabbed the Torah and Tefillin and carefully passed it out a back window to my visiting friend who was standing on the porch and then I myself climbed out the window.

It was already five minutes after calling and neither the fire or police department had yet arrived. With smoke billowing out of the house, it was important to me that the boys were all safe and away from the area quickly, as well as calm. As I myself had to wait for the fire and police, I could not go with the boys but went to speak to them where they had gathered with a counselor, all of us being barefoot and in pajamas. Before sending them away with the other counselors, I reminded them that it was Shabbos Chazon, a Shabbos which the Rebbe had wanted us to celebrate joyfully, something we had begun the night before. We would not let anything damper our spirits. We said a few Kapitlach Tehillim, cracked a couple of jokes and then they were off. Baruch Hashem the kids were all calm, dealing with the situation in good spirits, and extremely cooperative with the staff.

Finally, a cop arrived holding a small fire extinguisher. Witnessing this, Shuki could not help but laugh despite the danger and, sure enough, within minutes the cop had to call for backup. A number of fire-trucks arrived and while they got their equipment together, my friend reviewed over a ma’amer and we started to sing nigunim in an effort to stay calm. I was extremely anxious to figure out how I would have the bochurim spend the rest of their day. Would I be able to get them clothing when the fire was out? Would they be able to walk to West Hartford, 3 miles down the road, to the closest Chabad near us?

I didn’t have my glasses on and couldn’t see clearly into the house to determine what was happening so I asked my friend to do so. He looked inside and said: “Oh my gosh! It looks like the firefighters are eating our Cholent!” It took me a couple of seconds to realize he was kidding, and thankfully the humor helped ease the mounting tension.

By that point, some of the neighbors had started to gather around and one, a non-Jewish woman named Jan, approached offering her home saying that she has a big house that G-d gave her to share. Initially, I was skeptical about taking the boys into a non-Jewish home with nothing productive for them to do and no siddurim to Daven from. But when she persisted, I agreed to look at the house with her and my friend. On the walk over to her property she offered food as well so my friend and I explained some of the laws of Shabbos and Kashrus which she was semi-familiar with. After a view of the home, I decided to take the kids there so they would be able to wash and take care of basic needs until we could get clothing.

While all this was happening, the boys had walked to a golf course in a country club behind our property. The manager of the club, who knew what was happening, offered them water but told them that despite his sorry feelings, they could not stay. By then however, I had sent Shuki to go gather the boys and bring them to Jan’s house. Ironically, as Shuki later reported, the boys joked the entire way to Jan’s house about how this was more fun than all the trips and that they’d need t-shirts as a sign of survival.

Jan was extremely gracious while we all sat around her living room or washed up. After settling the boys down, I took Jan aside in another room and explained to her the concept of a Yarmulke finishing off asking if perhaps she had an extra cap for one of the boys who had not been able to get a Yarmulke before running out. She silently went upstairs and low and behold came down with a real Yarmulke! I went into the room with the Yarmulke behind my back and asked the boys to try to guess what type of hat she had donated. All sorts of answers came up: a fishing hat, a baseball cap, a cowboy hat etc., anything but a Yarmulke. The amazement on their faces was evident when I pulled the prized Yarmulke out from behind my back. Their first instinctive question was: “Is she Jewish?” She wasn’t Jewish but had received the Yarmulke at a Jewish event.

Being that we didn’t have a siddur, we all said Karbanos out loud in the dining room during which time Jan’s husband arrived with Cholov Yisroel, New Square milk and vegetables for which the boys were extremely thankful! Then, while I went to speak to the firefighters and see what they were up to, my friend kept the boys busy telling them amazing stories of his past experiences. The chief reported that aside for the kitchen being destroyed, the rest of the house was ok despite serious smoke damage.

After going over details of what had been on the stove, the chief told Shuki that double doors leading out of the kitchen (not generally closed) that were shut that Friday night had choked the fire and prevented it from spreading further. If it had spread, he continued, chances that the house would have blown up were high being that the fire was a “code red” – unimaginably hot.

While hearing about this miracle, I realized another miracle that took place. From the time I woke up until everyone was out of the house took a total of 2 minutes during which time smoke was minimal. However, just minutes after we were all out, the smoke build up increased rapidly and had we been just a couple of minutes later, getting everyone out would have been a more difficult task.

I requested permission to go back into the house since it was Shabbos and none of us had anything aside for out pajamas and we could not buy anything either. I explained this to the Chief and although he said he’d have to inspect the house for danger and the like, he would check the bedrooms first and then I would be able to go in. However, another problem still existed, even though I would be allowed into the house, I could not carry the boys clothes to them. Again, I turned to the Chief who graciously gave permission for me to bring the boys to the back porch while I passed out a pair of clothing and shoes to them. When I went back to Jan’s house to collect to kids, I found out that Jan had offered to buy shoes for the boys. I couldn’t help but marvel at the Hashgacha Protis that Hashem had put this woman here for this specific occasion. Two by two, the kids got a pair of smoke-smelling clothes in a process which took nearly an hour.

After some final details such as drinks and the bathroom, we headed out in good spirits to the West Hartford Chabad House. The first words of the Shliach when I walked into the Chabad House were, “Eli, don’t worry, we’re burning down the walls of Golus.” He invited us to sit down and partake in a Kiddush that was going on. I was tired and my hands were black from all the smoke but I was grateful for the way things turned out. I must have looked worried for as I was about to sit down for the first time all day, the Shliach called out “Eli, don’t worry, we’ll get you another place!” He then sat down with all of us and Farbrenged about Shabbos Chazon and the Rebbe. We finished off the Shabbos with a wonderful feeling of warmth from everyone in the community.

Baruch Hashem, the Shliach, true to his word was able to find us another place. However the cost of starting up again: making up for the deficit of destroyed goods, paying for damages, cleaning the destroyed property, etc is enormous. As Yidden, as Chassidim, and as Shluchim of the Rebbe, we are asking for as much help as possible monetarily to help pay for these damages. The Mitzvah of Tzedaka is extremely important and valuable and in the current situation, extremely necessary. Everything donated would be appreciated to the utmost and our gratitude would be limitless.

Kindly sign or send check made payable to:
Chabad of Weatogue or Yeshivas Kayitz of Hartford
141 Hopmeadow Street.
Weatogue, CT, 06089.

Credit Card donations will also be accepted over the phone at
Rabbi Samuels: 860-463-9572 or
Rabbi Sandhaus: 718-687-8932.

These are our boys, our brothers, and our future. It is important that we be able to finish off the summer with these boys in a positive manner and without debt of damages from the fire.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy summer,
Thank you,
Rabbi Eli Sandhaus