Massive Fire in Northern Israel, 40+ killed

[The Grim Squeaker]

Israel fire near Haifa kills dozens of prison guards

About 40 people have died in what is thought to be Israel's largest ever forest fire, police have said.

Many of the victims were prison guards travelling on a bus which was caught in the inferno in the Carmel Mountains near the northern city of Haifa.

Thousands of people, including prison inmates, have been evacuated from the area.

Scores more have been injured, the ambulance service said. The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has visited the affected area, said it was an "unprecedented disaster".

The BBC's Jon Donnison in the region says the Israel's emergency services have not had to handle an operation on sunch a scale since the war in Lebanon in 2006.

The Israeli prison service said the bus was carrying guards to help with the evacuation of nearby Damon Prison, which was threatened by the blaze.

More than 13,000 people have had to leave their homes to escape the flames
The men had been raced to the area from central Israel to assist in the rescue, prison service spokesman Yaron Zamir said.

A fire brigade spokesman told the Jerusalem Post that the flames had travelled 1,500m (4,920ft) in less than three minutes.

"The bus had no chance. They tried to escape but were burned alive. It was a horrific scene," the spokesman told the newspaper.

He called it a "difficult, sad and incomprehensible day."

A senior police chief from Haifa who was also in the area was reported to have been critically injured.

There were no reported injuries among prison inmates.

"We are harnessing all the forces of the state to deal with this disaster and rescue those who are injured and to stop the fire," Mr Netanyahu said.

He said protecting life was now the priority.

"We don't want any more injuries, any more dead. We suffered a hard blow and we don't want any more dead, not even one."

In a rare request for foreign assistance, Mr Netanyahu called on Italy, Cyprus and Russia to help in tackling the fire.

Greece, which faced its own disastrous wildfires in 2007, has sent a team of experts, while US President Barack Obama has also offered assistance.

The UK has dispatched a Royal Air Force helicopter based in Cyprus with firefighting equipment.

A second helicopter can be deployed almost immediately as needed, said a spokeswoman for the British embassy to Israel.

The fire in the northern Carmel region broke out about midday (1000 GMT), and hundreds of firefighters were battling the flames on the ground and from the air amid heavy winds.

Emergency crews from across the country tried to reach the scene, weaving through heavy rush-hour traffic as night fell.


"We're on a road that takes you down Carmel Mountain and everything is burning on both sides," a paramedic supervisor from the ambulance service, Erez Geller, told the BBC.

"It's dark now and this makes it very complicated with the fire. It's a catastrophe because we have so many fatalities.

"We have had several fires in the last 10 to 12 years but nothing like this," Mr Geller said.

Major roads in the area have been closed and parts of Haifa, Israel's third largest city, have been evacuated.

At a ceremony marking the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, Israeli President Shimon Peres praised the firefighters tackling the flames, saying they exemplified "personal and superior bravery"

"We pray for their safety. We pray for the cessation of the fire," he said.

Some 13,000 people have been evacuated from the area.

Israeli media said it was the biggest forest fire in the country's history, with 7,000 acres (2,800 hectares) of land destroyed by Thursday evening.

Israel is currently suffering a period of drought with no significant rain since the spring.

Horrific. The 40 guards were the entirety of a year's course of guards, they were all burned alive. The damage is horrific, especially in the historical context (most of the forests in Israel didn't exist prior to the renewed Jewish settlement, and reforestation has a large part in the national ethos with multiple government and NGOs existing exclusively for increasing forestation and land preservation).

[Thanas]

Germany apparently is sending some planes to help.

[thejester]

Speed of the fire outrunning speed of communication, emergency services unable to keep up, comparatively massive death toll (particularly of people on roads)...sounds like a classic wildfire fuck up. Really awful.

[Chris OFarrell]

Apparently Israel has only a limited number of fire fighters, or perhaps forest fire fighters, they are all committed at this point in time, there are literally no more resources to throw at the problem, so I hear.

[Netko]

Over 20 fire-fighting aircraft from the area have arrived or will arrive today to help - planes from Greece, Turkey and Cyprus have already arrived, while planes from Egypt, Jordan, France, Croatia, Russia, Spain, and Romania are on the way. And Germany, apparently.

EDIT: its interesting to just consider the scale of that for a moment - for a country of Israel's size, a fleet of 4-6 planes is considered optimal in normal circumstances. Over 20 are being sent to deal with this fire...

[Ace Pace]

Over 20 fire-fighting aircraft from the area have arrived or will arrive today to help - planes from Greece, Turkey and Cyprus have already arrived, while planes from Egypt, Jordan, France, Croatia, Russia, Spain, and Romania are on the way. And Germany, apparently.

EDIT: its interesting to just consider the scale of that for a moment - for a country of Israel's size, a fleet of 4-6 planes is considered optimal in normal circumstances. Over 20 are being sent to deal with this fire...

Strong winds with rapid changes in direction, dry forested areas combine to form a very strong fire.

[Thanas]

German experts are calling Israelis incompetent for not planning for this. They call it the foreseeable catastrophe.

[Ace Pace]

German experts are calling Israelis incompetent for not planning for this. They call it the foreseeable catastrophe.

It pretty much was foreseeable and for the last decade, numerous officials from the relevant places (fire departments, first aid, disaster planning, forestry) have been calling for more equipment and better oversight. The money was denied for all the obvious reasons in Israel, such as shortsighted politicians, blind ignorance (housing related fires are very rare and therefore most people never see the need) and the usual budgetary problems* Israel has.




*Such as the defense concerns overriding any other needs in Israel

[Sea Skimmer]

The Israelis shouldn’t even need fire specific planning when they already have such a deeply engrained and heavily mechanized military mobilization strategy. Mobilize and deploy every military tank dozer and armored bulldozer in northern Israel and start plowing down the forest until the fires stop. Mobilize all the water purification and chemical decontamination units too and put the pumps they have to work. Given the Israeli track record though I’m sure they are only just thinking about doing this.

[Simon_Jester]

Would you mind expanding on what you said about the Israeli track record, Skimmer?

[Sea Skimmer]

Well, have they struck you as people who plan well as a government since 1967? Looking back on such brilliant moments as the siege of Beirut, caused by the refusal of Israeli commanders to occupy the city which was the entire point of invading Lebanon in the first place…and the seizing of that flotilla early this year I tend to think not.

It’s not like I exactly expect better from the US or a lot of other nations on every topic, but safety/fighting is kind of basic stuff, and its just absurd to me to learn that Israel has substantially fewer fire fighters in its entire nation then we have here in the city of Philadelphia. The population ratio is almost 5:1. With a situation like that, and a nation which is actively being replanted and thus a huge tinder hazard (hoards of small trees are worse then big trees) you’d expect special measures to be taken. All the more so since rocket bombardments and similar military threats are common, and indeed the 2006 war started a number of modest forest fires.

Probably doesn’t help my opinions that I’ve been reading a fair bit of atomic fire threats, and Israel prides itself on strong civil defense.

[Talhe]

Photos from NASA: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Natura ... p?id=47518

[Sea Skimmer]

That is not a good sign the way it’s encircling the western edge of the forest, no wonder the near panic. Hopefully they won’t loose that whole central-western section, I’m not seeing much in the way of natural barriers to stop the fire or road access in Google earth.

I also just read now that the Isrealis have a formal ban on using military aircraft to fight fires… because they might be damaged. Fucking brilliant. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 28,00.html They are sending some ground forces.

[hongi]

Is arson being suspected?

[eyl]

Is arson being suspected?

The leading theory is that the mian fire started due to a fire in an illegal landfill. However, there were a number of new fire loci (both in the north and in southern Israel) on Friday which are suspected to be arson.

I also just read now that the Isrealis have a formal ban on using military aircraft to fight fires… because they might be damaged. Fucking brilliant. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 28,00.html They are sending some ground forces.

This is apparently due to a near crash which occurred in 2002 due to damage caused folowing such a fire-fighting mission. Bear in mind that this fire is unprecedented in scale (in Israeli experience, that is) and previous fires over the last decade did not require use of the helicopters; I'd think they could override the policy in this case, though.

[folti78]

Is arson being suspected?

Currently negligence:

Israel arrests two suspects in deadly fire
10:14am EST

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police said on Saturday they had arrested two people suspected of setting a deadly forest fire that has spiraled out of control for three days.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld would not further identify the suspects but said they were believed to have triggered the fire by negligence rather than arson.

Israeli police said earlier they thought the blaze, which has killed 41 people, had been caused by an errant camp fire.

(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; editing by Mark Heinrich)

[Broomstick]

The US is sending planes and fire retardant (45 tons of retardant, 12,000 liters of foam). The ones being flown in from Germany should be there shortly. In addition, the US is sending expertise and material from the US, so those will be along a bit later.

[Talhe]

Looks like the fire has been contained after 77 hours:

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/fi ... e-1.329016

[The Grim Squeaker]

I travelled the area today - Pics:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... e623e4577d
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ddofer/tags/disaster/
http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic. ... 22&start=0