‘They were his world’: Victims identified in Las Vegas house fire that killed 4
The four people who died in a southwest Las Vegas house fire last week were part of a tight-knit family, a relative said Monday.
The victims were Abraham Adem, his brother Abdul Adem and Abdul Adem’s children, Anaya and Aaliayh, according to a relative and a GoFundMe page, which had raised over $88,000 by Monday afternoon.
Abdul Adem would often say, “Your beliefs don’t make you a better person. Your behavior and character do,” according to another brother, Awet Adem, who lives nearby.
The GoFundMe suggested that the behavior of Abdul Adem’s wife, Senait Adem, may have saved her life and the life of one of her children.
Just before 4:10 a.m. Thursday, fire crews were called to 8332 Langhorne Creek St., near the area of West Windmill Lane and South Jones Boulevard.
“In a moment of unimaginable courage, Senait was able to save herself and her son Amani by leaping from a third-story window,” according to the GoFundMe page. “Tragically, as Abdul, Abraham, and the remaining children prepared to follow, the roof and floor collapsed, trapping them inside.”
Clark County Deputy Fire Chief Wayne Dailey said Monday afternoon that an investigation into the fire was ongoing and the cause was still undetermined.
While the GoFundMe page listed one of the deceased children’s names as Aliyah, Awet Adem, who was not in the home at the time of the fire, gave different spellings for some of the victims’ names. He said those who died were his brothers Ibrahim Adem and Abdul Adem, as well as Abdul Adem’s children Anaya and Aaliayh. Aaliayh had just turned 6 on Oct. 16, he said, and Anaya would have turned 8 in November.
An early morning call
It was about 6 a.m. when Awet Adem got a call from a social worker telling him that Senait Adem wanted him to come to University Medical Center, he said.
At the hospital, Senait and Amani Adem were covered in smoke, he said, and Senait Adem was asking where the rest of the family was.
He said he called the coroner and other hospitals to try to find out and then drove to the family’s house, where the fire was still going.
All the fire and law enforcement personnel at the scene were crying, he said. “They’d never seen this before.”
For 16 hours, he sat watching them work.
Senait Adem kept calling him every 10 to 15 minutes for an update, he said. He wanted a miracle but said he knew that his family members had died because of the strength of the fire and condition of the house.
Awet Adem praised the first responders who worked on the fire. “They were all very supportive, and they worked hard,” he said.
Senait and Amani Adem have since been discharged from the hospital, according to Awet Adem.
‘Thought about himself last’
Awet Adem and his brothers emigrated from the East African country of Eritrea in the early 1990s with their mother, seeking better lives. Their father died when they were young, he said.
Abdul Adem was an executive, he said, and Ibrahim Adem worked in the food and beverage industry. According to LinkedIn, Abdul Adem was a sales director at Cox Communications.
“We have all endured a great loss – Abdul was an amazing leader for our organization and a good friend,” Kristine Hedlund, director of new development at Cox, said in an email.
Awet Adem described his brother Abdul as someone who prioritized God and his family.
He was focused on the basketball career of his son Alijah Adem, who was at college when the fire occurred, according to Adem and the fundraiser.
Abdul Adem also coached youth basketball, Awet Adem said, and nurtured children who didn’t have father figures.
“He thought about himself last,” Adem said. “He didn’t eat until everybody ate, physically and mentally.”
‘They were his world’
Ibrahim Adem was quiet and supportive, Awet Adem said. He lived with his brother’s family and was devoted to his brother’s children.
“They were his world,” Awet Adem said of his brother’s relationship with Anaya and Aaliayh, adding, “I’m not surprised he died with them.”
Anaya was smart and nurtured her younger siblings, Awet Adem said.
“She was very creative,” he said. “She was very colorful. She loved to dance.”
And Aaliayh was strong-willed, her uncle said.
“Whatever she wanted, she got from her dad,” he said. “And she didn’t take no for an answer.”
The family is reckoning with the emotional and financial impact of the fire.
“Now, Senait and her surviving child face the unimaginable task of mourning their beloved family while needing to rebuild their lives from scratch,” the fundraiser said. “Their home, which held cherished memories of a family now lost, is uninhabitable and beyond repair.”
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.