40 dead as northern Israel burns
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- At least 40 people have been killed in a massive brush fire in northern Israel.
The fire, which broke out Thursday morning in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa, has destroyed thousands of acres of natural forest. Winds and dry conditions helped to send the fire out of control.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from the area, including 500 inmates of the Damon Prison. A bus carrying about 50 prison guard cadets flipped over during the evacuation and was engulfed in flames. Dozens of passengers were killed and wounded, according to reports. At least three people are missing.
Several kibbutzim and villages, including Nir Etzion, Ein Hod, Ein Hid and Beit Oren and the Druze village of Isfiyeh, as well as the Carmel Forest Hotel, were evacuated Thursday afternoon. Haifa University also has been evacuated.
The Israeli army was mobilized to assist in fighting the fire.
Greece and Cyprus have agreed to send helicopters to help control the blaze, according to reports. Israel has turned as well to Italy, Germany and Russia for help.
The fire may have started in an illegal dumping ground, according to reports, though the Israeli Environmental Protection Agency has disputed the claim.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said about the fire, "We have known difficult moments and, naturally, we will need to learn very many lessons in order to deal with disasters of this kind, but right now all of our efforts are directed to saving lives and also watching over the lives of the forces dealing with the disaster. I think that they are acting in an exemplary fashion, as President Shimon Peres has said, with courage, dedication and responsibility."
36 Confirmed Dead in Fire, Most were on Prisons Service Bus
by Gil Ronen and Hillel Fendel
Dozens of security personnel, many from the Israel Prisons Service, are believed to have perished in the fire that has been raging on the Carmel Mountain all day Thursday. Twenty two people were confirmed dead by 7:00 PM and 14 more bodies were reported found shortly after 10:00 PM. The total number of dead is estimated at 40 or 42.
This is the largest and deadliest fire since Israel's founding in 1948, and possibly also the worst terror attack in its history, if is confirmed. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday evening that the fire on the Carmel range is "a disaster of a scope that we are not familiar with."
Most of the dead are reportedly IPS cadets, most of them Druze, who were in their 20's. They were being transported on a bus after assisting in the evacuation of the Damon Prison. At a certain point the fire began spreading at great speed – covering a mile in five minutes, according to a firefighting officer – and the bus was caught in the flames with no chance of getting out.
Police officers who were in a separate vehicle nearby were reportedly also caught in the flames. Two of them were said to be missing at 8:00 PM and Lt.-Col. Ahuva Tomer, Commander of Haifa Police, is in serious condition after suffering burns.
Conflicting reports
Minister of Public Security Yitzchak Aharonovich said Thursday evening that the fire is under “currently under control,” but Fire Services Spokesman Hezi Levy said the opposite. The fire, he said, is out of control and is raging in three major locations: the Druze village of Usefiya, Beit Oren, and Nir Etzion.
Residents of religious kibbutz Nir Etzion, the Ein Hod artists' village and the nearby Arab village Ein Hud have been instructed to leave their homes, after it was determined that the fire might reach the communities.
The residents of Kibbutz Beit Oren and Usefiyeh were evacuated earlier in the day, as were the students of Haifa University, which is somewhat further away. Several homes in Usefiya have been burnt to the ground. Haifa University has been closed down until further notice.
The Brosh neighborhood in Tirat HaCarmel and a mental health hospital in Tirat HaCarmel may also be evacuated.
A resident of Beit Oren told Channel 2 news that several homes in the kibbutz burned down. Firefighters' spokesman Levy called Beit Oren "the former kibbutz of Beit Oren" in an evening interview, and said most of the homes in the comnmunity had been damaged.
Arson likely
Channel 2 reporter Yossi Mizrachi said that the way in which the fire spread indicated that the blaze erupted from three locations simultaneously -- making arson a likely possibility.
The fire broke out around 10:00 AM this morning in an illegal garbage dump in the Carmel Mountains.
Ongoing rescue and fire-fighting efforts are said to be nearly impossible given the physical conditions of the mountains, smoke, dry conditions and winds.
The trapped bus is said to have departed from the Damon Prison, apparently as part of the attempt to evacuate the prison in the face of the fast-spreading fire.
The Damon jail mostly holds Arabs who were caught illegally entering Israel from the Palestinian Authority. According to IDF Radio, however, the bus was "not a prisoner bus."
http://wejew.com/media/9893/Footage_of_Fire_in_the_North/
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