Over 170 wildfires break out amid heat wave
Keren Kayemet L’Israel (KKLJNF) forestry teams and Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services fought at least 176 separate wildfires across Israel on Saturday, amid a severe heat wave felt throughout the country. There were no serious injuries reported and damage was relatively limited.
Toward evening, Fire and Rescue Services announced the preliminary results of an investigation into the cause of the largest fire, at Kibbutz Karmiya near the Gaza Strip. It found that a group of about 100 people had gathered in a field to play with air guns and then lit two fires carelessly in an open and grassy area in order to barbecue. The fires quickly got out of control and sparked the larger fire, which consumed two cars belonging to the group.
Three of the group were detained for questioning under suspicion of arson and violating a ban on camp fires in the area.
Six firefighting teams accompanied by four planes worked to put out a large grass fire that spread towards the kibbutz greenhouses. Citizens and hikers who were in the Karmiya grove were evacuated from the scene with the help of the Israel Police. By evening, the fire was brought under control.
“This is a very large fire in which we operate with a large force and with the help of other forces,” the Fire and Rescue Service’s team chief at the scene described the situation. “There is also a spotting helicopter of the Israel Police at the scene and at this point.”
In the North of the country alone, 53 fires had to be put out. The coastal area saw 32 fires, the greater Jerusalem area 28, the south 24, the central region 22, while the West Bank suffered 14 blazes throughout the day.
Near Acre, police diverted traffic from the Acre East intersection due to thick smoke from a nearby brushfire, until it was brought under control.
The Fire and Rescue Services listed five major fires around the country throughout the morning. In the North, a grass fire spread toward Mount Turan and a nearby kibbutz. Eight planes from the Elad firefighting squadron arrived on the scene to fight the fire alongside four ground teams that protected the
line of houses.
Firefighters brought the blaze control some four and half hours after initial reports of its spread, while successfully diverting the flames away from the nearby Kibbutz Beit Rimon.
North of Ailot, a medium-sized
fire spread toward houses, after apparently spreading from a landfill. Four teams from the Nof Hagalil fire station worked to contain the fire.
In the afternoon, a fire broke out near Kibbutz Kfar Etzion in the West Bank.
Arson is suspected as the fire was found to have started in several places at once.
“Firefighters from the Yehuda regional station a while ago worked on a fire in the grove of the “Mukhtar’s saddle” near Kibbutz Kfar Etzion,” said Tamir Erez, commander
of the Israel Fire and Rescue service’s Yehuda Regional Station.
“The Yehuda regional station was reinforced today with additional teams, following the decision of the Israel Fire and Rescue commissioner to raise the alert level and reinforce the stations. Upon receiving the message, many teams went to the scene and from afar noticed heavy smoke, and the fact that the fire was in an inaccessible area. Due to the terrain conditions, and the spread of the fire with the help of the strong winds, a pair of firefighting planes from the ‘Elad’ squadron were launched to help extinguish the blaze.”
In the country’s center, in the village of Tzur Moshe near Netanya, a grass fire spread towards the first row of houses in the village, residents were evacuated from their homes. Four firefighting planes helped stop the fire from spreading, in coordination with ground crews. Fire and Rescue reported that, as of 1 p.m., there was no danger to the nearby homes.
Near the seashore, a grass fire spread toward the village of Mazraa. The first row of houses was evacuated and no casualties were reported, while firefighters overcame the blaze.
The public was asked to obey all commands given by the Fire and Rescue commissioner, and in particular not to light fires in parks, forests, and nature reserves.