Jerusalem – Israel Fires Continue To Rage: Evacuation Of Town Of Beit Meir

Jerusalem – Firefighters are continuing overnight Thursday to fight the fires that are raging across Israel.

At around 2:00 a.m. a fire broke out in the Beit Shemesh area, near the towns of Beit Meir and Shoresh. Residents of Beit Meir were evacuated from their homes.

An estimated 750 hectares (1,850 acres) of forests and rural areas have been destroyed in Zichron Ya’acov, Neveh Shalom, Modi’in, Neveh Ilan and Nataf, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund’s fire-fighting services said.

“KKL-JNF declared a general mobilization of over 200 fire-fighting crews that have been working nonstop for the last 72 hours, alongside the Israel Fire and Rescue Services, to extinguish fires and to separate between organic flammablematerial and ongoing fires, thus creating buffer zones to contain the expansion of fires to forests and open areas,” KKLJNF World Chairman DannyAtar said.

“KKL-JNF foresters and fire-fighters are working day and night to assist the rescue services to stop the fires and to save forest areas. At the same time, we are putting our efforts into helping victims of the fires, and opening a field and forest center in Ness Harim [near Beit Shemesh], to welcome families evacuated from their homes,” Atar said.

Haim Messing, director of KKL-JNF’s central region, said that “in all areas which KKLJNF manages, buffer lines have proven themselves and helped in preventing loss of life, property or grounds.”