Palestinian firefighters join efforts to control northern blaze

Published today, Friday, December 3, 2010, 16:29

NABLUS (Ma'an) --

Palestinian firefighters are aiding efforts to control a forest fire which has spread across northern occupied Palestine (Israel), Palestinian civil defense officials said.

The blaze, which has killed at least 41 people and devastated more than 10,000 acres of land, was still burning out of control 24 hours after it started in the Carmel region, near the northern Israel city of Haifa.

Brigadier General Ahmed Al-Riziq told Ma'an that Palestinian firefighters were able to help control the fire which has spread to Palestinian villages of Al-Tayba and Barta'a west of Jenin.

Al-Riziq said the devastating blaze was a disaster, and that Palestinian civil defenses were doing their best to offer help through official channels.

Israel's meager firefighting services were under enormous strain on Friday as they battled the worst fire in the country's 62-year history.

Israel has a nationwide firefighting force of around 1,500 officers, a number considered woefully inadequate to deal with the inferno, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appeal urgently for international help.

And the force is also under-equipped, lacking a significant stock of vehicles and running low on reserves of firefighting materials such as retardant after a dry summer that sparked a series of forest fires.

UN envoy to the region Robert Serry conveyed his deepest sympathy to the families of victims of the fire in a statement Friday. He said the UN was actively engaged in mobilizing support from member states.

Thousands battle to tame Israel's worst fire

Published today (updated) 03/12/2010 16:30 By Marco Longari

HAIFA, Israel (AFP) Maan--

Thousands of Israeli firemen and rescuers fought Friday to control a massive forest fire that has killed 41 people, as global help poured in to battle the biggest inferno in the country's history.

As high winds drove the blaze towards the northern port city of Haifa, police and medical officials said rescuers had recovered another body, taking the toll to 41, and warned the number of dead could still rise.

"As of this morning, we have recovered 41 bodies, and there are still three people missing," said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, adding there were 16 people injured, including three seriously hurt and one in critical condition.

Rosenfeld said 15,000 people had been evacuated as the fire incinerated more than 10,000 acres (over 4,000 hectares) of land and reached the southern part of Haifa, Israel's third largest city with a population of 265,000.

Police and rescue workers confirmed most of the dead were prison guards on board a bus, who had been trying to evacuate prisoners from a facility in the forest.

"The bus tried to turn around and some tried to get away but they were caught by the fire from two different directions," Rosenfeld told AFP.

He added two police officers and third person were still missing, and warned the toll could still rise.

"We still haven't searched areas like Beit Oren (kibbutz) which were very badly burned so we are not sure what we are going to find, and the toll may still rise," he said.

However, early on Friday, Israel's Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch was cautiously optimistic efforts to curb the blaze were taking effect.

"Seen from the air, the situation is better than what you can see on the ground," he told Channel 10 private television.

As thousands of firefighters, police and army troops tried to tame the blaze, offers of international help poured in, with more than a dozen countries pledging to send firefighting planes, helicopters and personnel to help.

By early Friday, five Greek planes, a Bulgarian craft with 100 firefighters, and a Cypriot plane and helicopter and a British helicopter were in Israel, a military spokesman said. A second British helicopter was due to arrive shortly.

The foreign ministry said it had also received pledges of help from Azerbaijan, Britain, Croatia, Egypt, France, Jordan, Romania, Russia, Spain and Turkey.

US President Barack Obama expressed his "deepest condolences" for the victims and said US firefighters were on standby to help, while Australia also said its forces were ready to help.

Visiting the scene late on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the blaze as "a fire on an international scale."

He was expected to convene an emergency session of the cabinet in Tel Aviv on Friday morning to discuss the tragedy.

Dramatic footage showed flames rushing across the forest floor, engulfing trees and sending thick plumes of smoke into the air.

At least 20 charred bodies could be seen lying on orange stretchers by the side of a road, their clothes burnt off their bodies and only their boots intact.

Other footage showed the gutted remains of the bus, which one witness said had been consumed by the flames.

"Anyone who's ever seen a firestorm will know. They could not survive it; they had no protection; they just fell to the road and burned alive," fireman Dudu Vanunu told Channel 2 television.

Fire and rescue officials said it was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, which swept through the pine forest covering the Carmel hill ridge, one of Israel's most popular beauty spots.

Yoram Levy, a spokesman for the fire service, said the blaze appeared to have broken out in a rubbish dump in the Druze village of Isfiya, an account supported by witness testimony reported by the Haaretz daily.

Pilot Alon Chaim said he had spotted a small fire outside Isfiya shortly after 11:00 am (0900 GMT) on Thursday and had alerted the fire department.

"I flew over the fire, which at that point was a tiny blaze," he told the paper, saying the fire could have been put out very quickly.

The Israeli press was filled with scathing criticism of the government for the country's woeful lack of preparation.

"The wind, it seems, is the only thing directing anything in this country," wrote media commentator Ben Caspit in the Ma'ariv daily.

Obama offers 'condolences,' aid in fighting Israel fire

Published today (updated) 03/12/2010 13:32

WASHINGTON (AFP), Maan --

US President Barack Obama on Thursday expressed his "deepest condolences" for the victims of a massive forest fire in Israel and said the United States had offered to help fight it.

The blaze engulfed a forest near the northern Israeli city of Haifa, killing 40 people, most of them prison guards on board a bus that was trapped in the inferno, the worst in Israel's 62-year history.

"I want to begin by offering our deepest condolences to the families, loved ones, of all of those who died," Obama told some 500 guests during a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony at the White House.

"As rescuers, firefighters are continuing their work, the United States is acting to help our Israeli friends in this time of disaster," he said, adding that the government was looking into what kinds of aid it could provide.

The Israeli fire service has urgently called up all 1,500 firefighters in the country, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an urgent appeal for international assistance in containing the fire.

Offers have poured in, with Greece pledging to send four firefighting planes, Cyprus offering a helicopter and another firefighting aircraft, and Bulgaria reportedly sending 90 firefighters.

Israel's foreign ministry said it had also received pledges of help from Romania, Azerbaijan, France, Russia, Croatia and Turkey.