The smoke was heaviest on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors of the building, but smoke reached to the top floor as well. It took firefighters approximately an hour to obtain control over the fire. They used smoke-clearing machines to remove the heavy smoke, though the building was without electricity during Shabbat.
The eight people injured, mostly from smoke inhalation, were treated at the scene or brought to local clinics. The lobbies on floors four through eight suffered heavy damage.
Firefighters reported the blaze to the city's Welfare Department.