On the morning of October 7th, as the first alarms sounded, the fire fighter and commander of the regional fire station in Kiryat Gat, Deputy Firefighter Shalom Tsavan, 60 years old from Sderot, put on his uniform and stormed in his car towards the fire station. Shalom took his life partner and her son with him in the car, in order to drive them to his parents' house in Kiryat Gat.

On his way out of Sderot, on Ovadia Yosef Street in the city, he was opened fire by terrorists. The terrorists killed his partner and seriously injured Shalom. He manages to talk on the phone with his son and his older brother, and informs them that they were shot and that he is seriously wounded. His family tried to send an ambulance to him, but the rescue forces were unable to get to the scene. At some point, the vehicle stopped, and the boy (the son of Shalom's partner) managed to escape from the vehicle and hid nearby, thus being saved.

After several hours, during which Shalom lay dying in the car, he died of his wounds.

Shalom joined the fire and rescue service in 1992, following one of his brothers, Zion Tsavan. He held a series of command positions in the Southern District and underwent a series of trainings as part of his service.

After his fall, the late Shalom Tsavan was promoted to Lieutenant-Firefighter.