Israeli inferno now 'almost all under control'
Source: Agencies |
December 6, 2010, Monday
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AN inferno that has raged for four days in a northern Israeli forest was largely under control by nightfall yesterday, helped in part by the world's largest flying fire extinguisher - a Boeing 747 from the United States carrying 20,000 gallons of water and fire retardants.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said late last night: "Almost all of the fire is under control."
"The general picture is better, more optimistic," firefighters' spokesman Boaz Rakia told a news conference, but warned it would take days to extinguish the fire completely.
Two teenage brothers were arrested on Saturday in connection with the fire which has killed 41 people, most of them prison guards whose bus was trapped by the fire while they were en route to evacuate a prison.
The blaze has been tearing through the Carmel forest near Israel's third-largest city, Haifa, since last Thursday.
Rosenfeld said there had been 20 arson attempts in other forests over the past 48 hours, with four people arrested.
The fire caught the country woefully unprepared and provoked a public backlash against officials from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on down.
Netanyahu appealed to the international community for help, and countries nearby and as far afield as Russia and the United States have dispatched planes, firefighters and materials to help battle the blaze.
Palestinian firefighters, ordinarily barred from entering Israel, passed through the barrier that divides the two peoples yesterday to join the international effort.
Team leader Ibrahim Ayish, of the West Bank town of Bethlehem, said the 21 Palestinian firefighters hoped that by helping to put out the blaze, they could ignite some good will between two sides more often embroiled in conflict.
"I hope it could be a good opening for cooperation, more humanitarian assistance, and peace," he said.
The last time Ayish was in Israel was 10 years ago - before the Jewish state, fearing militant attacks, began restricting the number of Palestinians allowed to enter Israel.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said he could not confirm Israeli media reports that the two teenage boys arrested inadvertently sparked the blaze with a bonfire and a water pipe.
Their aunt, identified only as Abir in a radio interview, denied they were responsible.
Although the forest fire raging in Israel's north is small by international standards, it is considered a calamity in Israel, where only 7 percent of the land is wooded.
The Carmel forest makes up 5 percent of that forested land and nearly half of it has been destroyed.
Israeli firefighters have complained for years of undersized crews, outdated equipment and minimal supplies.
While Israel has a highly sophisticated air force, its firefighting force doesn't have a single plane. It ran out of flame retardants on the first day of the blaze.
Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel would form an airborne firefighting force.
Yesterday, he called for swift action to compensate victims and rehabilitate the area.
"I don't want delays. I don't want red tape. I want processes to be shortened and rapid solutions," he said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, held in the north in a sign of solidarity with stricken residents.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said late last night: "Almost all of the fire is under control."
"The general picture is better, more optimistic," firefighters' spokesman Boaz Rakia told a news conference, but warned it would take days to extinguish the fire completely.
Two teenage brothers were arrested on Saturday in connection with the fire which has killed 41 people, most of them prison guards whose bus was trapped by the fire while they were en route to evacuate a prison.
The blaze has been tearing through the Carmel forest near Israel's third-largest city, Haifa, since last Thursday.
Rosenfeld said there had been 20 arson attempts in other forests over the past 48 hours, with four people arrested.
The fire caught the country woefully unprepared and provoked a public backlash against officials from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on down.
Netanyahu appealed to the international community for help, and countries nearby and as far afield as Russia and the United States have dispatched planes, firefighters and materials to help battle the blaze.
Palestinian firefighters, ordinarily barred from entering Israel, passed through the barrier that divides the two peoples yesterday to join the international effort.
Team leader Ibrahim Ayish, of the West Bank town of Bethlehem, said the 21 Palestinian firefighters hoped that by helping to put out the blaze, they could ignite some good will between two sides more often embroiled in conflict.
"I hope it could be a good opening for cooperation, more humanitarian assistance, and peace," he said.
The last time Ayish was in Israel was 10 years ago - before the Jewish state, fearing militant attacks, began restricting the number of Palestinians allowed to enter Israel.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said he could not confirm Israeli media reports that the two teenage boys arrested inadvertently sparked the blaze with a bonfire and a water pipe.
Their aunt, identified only as Abir in a radio interview, denied they were responsible.
Although the forest fire raging in Israel's north is small by international standards, it is considered a calamity in Israel, where only 7 percent of the land is wooded.
The Carmel forest makes up 5 percent of that forested land and nearly half of it has been destroyed.
Israeli firefighters have complained for years of undersized crews, outdated equipment and minimal supplies.
While Israel has a highly sophisticated air force, its firefighting force doesn't have a single plane. It ran out of flame retardants on the first day of the blaze.
Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel would form an airborne firefighting force.
Yesterday, he called for swift action to compensate victims and rehabilitate the area.
"I don't want delays. I don't want red tape. I want processes to be shortened and rapid solutions," he said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, held in the north in a sign of solidarity with stricken residents.
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