Herzliya spa that caught fire lacked necessary permits
12/27/2012 05:50
Bank manager killed, two injured in blaze said to be sparked by candle in dry sauna.
Firefighters at Herzliya spa fire site Photo: Courtesy Tel Aviv District police
A fire that took the life of a Herzliya man and injured six others Wednesday
night was caused by a candle in a spa that lacked both a business permit and a
fire permit, fire officials and the Herzliya Municipality said on
Thursday.
Yaron Korine, of the Herzliya fire department, said the Delos
Spa at the city’s Arena Mall did not have a permit from the fire department and
had not passed the relevant tests to receive such a permit.
Korine said
fire investigators who returned to the scene on Thursday morning were able to
determine that a candle in the dry sauna had caused the fire, which from there
spread to other rooms.
Korine said fire personnel had gone from room to
room at the spa in order to rescue people who were trapped and suffering from
severe smoke inhalation. Those injured included the owner, who was lightly hurt
and was being treated for smoke inhalation.
The Herzliya Municipality
said on Thursday that the spa had been operating at the site since 2006, and had
changed ownership four times. The current proprietor was one of four owners of
the spa before it was last sold. At that time it had the necessary
permits.
The municipality added that in July the owner renovated the spa
and applied for a permit, but did not receive one. He opened the business
anyway, the city said.
Tel Aviv Police spokeswoman Orit Friedman said
that when the owner is discharged from the hospital, police will question him to
establish whether negligence led to the fire.
The dead man was identified
as Shalom Bason, a 55- year-old resident of Herzliya and manager of a Bank
Hapoalim branch in central Tel Aviv. He was at the spa as part of a leisure day
for employees of the branch.
Two other people were seriously injured in
the fire, and four were treated for smoke inhalation.