Ein Hod, Israel – Israeli Fire Rages on; Negligence Likely Cause; 747 Supertanker To Help

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    A firefighting plane sprays fire extinguishing material over the fire in Ein Hod, northern Israel, Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010. Residents of a fire-devastated community in northern Israel put out small blazes with hoses and pleaded with firefighters to save their homes, as the worst blaze in the country's history licked through hilly forests on Saturday. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)Ein Hod, Israel -Israel struggled to contain a huge and deadly forest fire that raged on for a third day on Saturday, despite the efforts of firefighting planes from half a dozen countries.

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    The worst inferno in Israel’s history has killed 41 people, forced 17,000 to flee their homes and destroyed some 10,000 acres of woodland near the port of Haifa. By nightfall it had still not been brought under control.

    Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said two people suspected of starting the blaze through negligence had been arrested. Israel Radio said the suspects were 16-year-old boys from a village bordering on the Carmel region woodlands where the fire was focused.

    Regional police commander Roni Atiya said he believed the blaze had spread from a campfire that was not properly extinguished.

    “It looks as though this is the result of negligence,” said Atiya, adding there was no evidence of any link to terrorism.

    Foreign firefighting planes joined the battle to contain the blaze after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed for help because of a shortage of such aircraft in Israel.

    Planes and helicopters from the United States, Spain, Azerbaijan and Switzerland were expected to join those from Russia, Turkey, Greece, Britain, France and Cyprus, already dumping water on the flames.

    NATIONS RUSHING IN SUPPLIES

    Jordan, Egypt and Bulgaria were among other nations rushing in supplies such as flame retardant, fire trucks and crews, to help Israel cope with the conflagration.

    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also offered to send help, in a rare telephone conversation with Netanyahu. The two were not believed to have spoken since U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations stalled in September.

    Abbas voiced condolences to Israel for those who died in the fire. Most were prison cadet trainees on their way to evacuate 500 inmates from a penitentiary.
    A local resident throws water onto a still burning area in Ein Hod, northern Israel, Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010. Residents of the fire-devastated community in northern Israel put out small blazes with hoses and pleaded with firefighters to save their homes, as the worst blaze in the country's history licked through hilly forests on Saturday. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
    Netanyahu said he would establish a fleet of firefighter aircraft, which he told Abbas would be made available to Israel’s Arab neighbors where necessary. Abbas also offered to send Israel several firetrucks, Israel said.

    The Israeli leader hit back at critics charging Israel was caught unprepared to handle the fire despite its technological savvy and smart weaponry.

    “You cannot extinguish a mega-fire swiftly,” Netanyahu told reporters after surveying a disaster scene on Saturday. He said the United States had also sought outside help to cope with natural disaster.

    “We all get help from others. It’s a part of our existence as a global village,” Netanyahu said, adding he was “very, very grateful” for all the aid Israel had received from abroad.

    The inferno, will hopefully be brought under control if not completely doused by the end of Sunday, the Israel Police and IDF predicted on Saturday night.

    Israel’s cabinet would also hold its weekly meeting on Sunday in a town affected by the fire in a show of solidarity and come up with a reconstruction plan, Netanyahu said.


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    20 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    These two bochurim may have started the fire but the real cause is global warming which has caused the drought and left the forest tinder dry and it was just a question of who/when would create the spark. This is a wake-up call from the Ebeshter to for EY and the world to focus on tikum olam and greenhouse gas controls.

    Babishka
    Member
    Babishka
    13 years ago

    We are seeing more extreme weather conditions in recent years due to climate change caused to carbon emissions. Adam was created to have respect for the earth and to maintain it. However, emissions control is something that individuals can not accomplish, it requires intervention at the government level.

    Darth_Zeidah
    Darth_Zeidah
    13 years ago

    The word “bachur” is usually translated as a youth, or a lad – of any ethnicity, of any religion or of any nationality.

    The fact that its Yiddish corruption, “bochur” or “bucher”, has been hijacked to mean a Jewish orthodox young man does not detract from its proper meaning.

    alwaysright
    alwaysright
    13 years ago

    i think #1 is sarcastic

    Materetsky
    Materetsky
    13 years ago

    Yiddish CORRUPTION…lol!
    Language evolution does not mean corruption, in fact without the French CORRUPTION of Anglo-Frisian , you would sound a lot different right now.

    sagewannabe
    sagewannabe
    13 years ago

    While fires are raging in Haifa, we have hundreds of hosts on http://www.shabbat.com who are happy and willing to take in refugees from the flames. Can you please post this to your home page, email it to your friends, and just help me spread the word!!! A number of people in Israel have asked me to do this! This site matches hosts and guest around the world and has nearly 11,000 people signed up! Thank you!

    ALLAN
    ALLAN
    13 years ago

    Just amazes me that the firefighting services are so weak in Israel.
    If what has be wriiten is true, there are less than 2000 firemen in the entire country and there are also claims of outdated equipment. There also appears to have not been plans in place to cope with any large scale forest fires…all above issues need to be addressed once this disaster is put to rest.
    The only good to come out of this horror is the cooperation that Israel has received from some of it’s neighbors…that too I would call amazing.

    Gilda
    Gilda
    13 years ago

    This is a question, not a comment.
    Does anyone know what has become after the fire of the Dada collection donated by Marcel Janco and Arturo Schwarz to the artists’ colony at Ein Hod?