Fires devastate Israeli communities and memorial woods for Shoah victims
Fires were aided by scorching heat of over 104 degrees and eastern winds, as Israel's PM calls for international assistance in tackling the blazes
Israel is on red alert over outbreaks of fires across the country, some on a massive scale, amid a massive heat wave.
At least one community, founded by the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach has been burned to the ground.
Fires, aided by a scorching heat of over 104 degrees and eastern winds, also consumed one of Israel’s prettiest and largest memorial forests, the Jewish National Fund’s forest around the Kdoshei Zaglambia Holocaust monument.
Situated on the western slopes of the West Bank, the forest planted decades ago for Polish victims of the genocide has a unique biodiversity connected to it being on the seam line connecting Israel’s humid coastal plain to its mountainous and arid interior.
On Friday, the fire was still raging across large areas of the coastal plane and creeping uphill in the direction of the Ben Shemen Forest. Mevoh Modiim, located 15 miles east of Tel Aviv, saw several of its homes destroyed, as did the town of Harel near Ashdod, south of Tel Aviv.
An Egyptian rescue helicopter, whose services the Egyptian government offered on Thursday, helped contain the fire near Harel. The Palestinian Authority has also offered to send firefighting teams, Ynet reported.
Fires on Thursday were out of control in the Jerusalem area, near Hebron and in the centre of the country. There has been a full mobilisation of firefighters across the country, as well as calls for assistance from volunteer firefighters.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his government ministers on Thursday evening to request foreign assistance to put out the blazes, including air support to help in the effort.
Earlier in the day, Southern District Fire Department Chief Shmulik Friedman said the country could request air assistance from Cyprus, Greece and Croatia, according to the Kan national broadcaster.
Homes were evacuated in Beit Hagai, in the southern Hebron Hills in the West Bank and in at least five other communities.
In Mevo Modiim, the central Israel community founded by Carlebach in 1975, residents were evacuated and most of the homes reportedly have been burned to the ground. Carlebach, best known as a composer of Jewish music and as spiritual leader to religious Jews in the counterculture, lived there and in Canada before his death in 1994.
As of Thursday evening, an out-of-control fire in the Ben Shemen Forest continued to burn. Route 443 connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem was closed in both directions due to fires in and around Jerusalem, as were several other roads.
In Beitar Ilit, an apartment building caught fire and several people including a mother and her children had to be rescued by firefighters. Three of them were taken to the hospital with fire-related injuries.
In the extreme heat wave that has blanketed Israel for several days, temperatures hit the 100s on Thursday a day after they hovered in the high 90s. They are forecast to climb as high as 110 to 115 by Friday throughout most of the Jewish state. The hot and dry weather had led to fears of widespread fires.
Some of the fires were sparked by embers from Lag b’Omer bonfires on Wednesday night that were not properly or completely extinguished, according to officials.
Israel Railways announced on Thursday that the extremely hot weather could cause delays and disruptions in train service throughout the country since the high temperatures cause the steel on the railway tracks to expand, slowing the trains.
Meanwhile, several fires are burning in communities in southern Israel located near the Gaza border. Fire officials said that some of those blazes were sparked by balloons carrying explosives sent from Gaza. The fires have destroyed dozens of acres of woodlands and burned up a wheat field outside of Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
The fires have not resulted in massive evacuations. Fifteen people have been lightly injured as a result of the fires.
The flames have caused major disruptions in train traffic and congestion along main arteries between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, the incendiary balloons started at least six fires.
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