Israel’s Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said in Sunday’s cabinet meeting (held in the Carmel region where a massive fire has been burning out of control since Thursday): “We are still in the midst of a massive forest fire. The firefighters are doing holy work but it must be understood that this kind of wildfire can only be defeated and extinguished from the air. On this we have been working day and night. We have mobilized over 30 aircraft from the nations of the world. Today, a gigantic ‘Supertanker’ plane that we rented from an American company is due to go into action. I believe that with these tools, it will be possible to contain and extinguish the fire. It must be understood that massive forest fires are fundamentally different from routine fires. The only way to deal with these wildfires is to integrate not only ground forces but aerial forces as well, local and international alike. Thus the major powers have acted. In a massive wildfire in California a few years ago, the US received assistance from eight countries; it neither hesitated nor was ashamed to request this assistance, including from countries from which we have made similar requests. In last summer’s massive wildfire in Russia, Russia neither hesitated nor was ashamed to request assistance from Ukraine and from other countries. We also did not hesitate, nor were we ashamed, in requesting such assistance. This is what we did and it has led to results. We will take control of, contain and – in the end – extinguish the fire. An additional subject is the establishment of a local aerial firefighting force. Even if we had such a force, and we are working on it, it will not always free us of the need to mobilize international support, but it would give us the possibility of bringing an aerial ‘cup of water’ to fires. The issue of closing the gaps in the conventional, ground-based, not aerial, firefighting network is an important issue. The Government has begun to deal with this issue, which has demanded a solution for 62 years. We have started to deal with it. We have added budgets. We are promoting changes but this issue has always been separate from that of massive brushfires”…
Tag: Haifa
Huge Israeli fire still not under control
Israeli authorities have said that the huge forest fire that started in the Carmel hills near Haifa on Thursday is still not under control.
That may take one to two more days, they say.
Fully extinguishing the fire will take longer.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday evening that Netanyahu today (Saturday), 4.12.10, had “ordered the rental of the largest firefighting plane in the world – a jumbo Boeing 747. The plane, an Evergreen ‘Supertanker’ is the only plane in the world with the ability to extinguish fires at night. Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed that the necessary budget for renting the plane be transferred immediately so that the plane may land in Israel tonight”.
One? Just one?
In this continuing tragedy, the Israeli PM has ordered only one of these largest firefighting planes in the world which is also the only kind of plane able to fight fires at night?
Netanyahu also said that he intended “to acquire for the State of Israel an aerial force, which we need in the era of global warming, in the era of brushfires. We need, of course, this different ability which will completely alter our ability to deal with massive brushfires”.
Apparently the Boeing Evergreen Supertanker has just come on the market, Netanyahu said in Haifa tonight, and Israel will be undertaking pioneering work to develop a “modus operandi” for it.
In a press conference at Haifa University on Saturday evening [n.b. – Haifa University was evacuated on Thursday and was threatened by the flames again on Friday] Netanyahu explained further that “This plane [the Boeing Evergreen Supertanker] was brought to our attention by Israel Aerospace Industries Chairman Yair Shamir. He contacted my Military Secretary, Maj.-Gen. Yohanan Loaker, and told him that heard about it. Maj.-Gen. Loaker immediately checked the Internet and within 15 minutes, contacted the company. He asked me, ‘Can we approve renting this Arizona-based company?’ I approved it on the spot. He asked me, ‘Where will the budgeting come from?’ I replied, ‘We will find it.’ There was a contract within an hour. This plane is en route. They have a commitment to arrive within 36 hours. They will come here anywhere in the world. They will arrive here tonight. At 01:00, this plane will be here. Its capacity is 76-80,000 liters, almost double that of the Ilyushin [n.b. – sent Friday by Russia; Netanyahu explained that the Ilyushin can carry approximately 40,000 liters]. It may have the exclusive ability to operate at night. Because what is happening here, and I just saw it on the flight here, is that during the day, the pilots and firefighters do exceptional work but night falls and the wind-fanned embers return to life, so the ability to operate at night is very significant”.
It was perhaps also significant that Interior Minister Eli Yishai, of the Shas religious party, was not among the government officials with Netanyahu at the Haifa press conference. There have been calls from various parts of Israel’s political spectrum and in the media for the Minister to resign, or be fired, for Israel’s totally inadequate response to this huge fire which has had such tragic consequences.
In his Haifa press conference, Netanyahu explained that he had discussed fire fighting techniques and shared experiences in phone conversations with U.S. President Obama, as well as with the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, and with the Canadian and Austrialian Prime Ministers as well. He said he also spoke to the Russian Deputy Civil Defense, Emergency and Disaster Relief Minister, who is now in Israel to help with the fire-fighting effort.
Israel’s YNet website reported tonight that “Four firefighting teams operating in the Hai-Bar area ran out of water on Saturday evening and were forced to pull back before getting reinforcement. ‘The fire is 15-20 meters (50-65 feet) high – a wall of flames’, their commander reported. ‘We are fighting fire from three directions’, he said. An Israel Air Force unmanned aerial vehicle was reporting of the flame’s progress to an Israel Defense Forces officer stationed in the area with the firefighters, who continued to request more and more water … Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, on the other hand, said during a press briefing at the command post at Haifa University that he remains ‘not optimistic’. ‘My working assumption is that it will take a few more days. The fleet of planes which will join us tomorrow will provide real aid. You must remember that we hardly engage in fire extinguishing at night’.” This story is reported here.
It was reported elsewhere that Netanyahu called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday to thank him for Palestinian help in fighting the massive fire. Al Arabiya TV wrote on its website here that ” ‘Three units of the Palestinian civil defense were sent to assist in extinguishing the fires in the Carmel'” said a statement from the office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas”.
Netanyahu said in the Haifa press conference, however, that PA President “Abu Mazen” had “volunteered to send three firefighters”. Perhaps it was just a slip of the tongue? In any case, Netanyhu said that “these things are very important”, and that he had expressed appreciation to President Abu Mazen “both for this step and for his solidarity in conveying his condolences, as others have also done, and I told him that we re in the same neighborhood. The fire is once here and once there. We are, in effect, creating a regional network, after we purchase the planes, the planes will join a regional network that I believe we can establish here for the benefit of all of our peoples”.
UPDATE: It was announced on Sunday that three Palestinian “vehicles” will enter Israel today via Jenin to help in fighting the Carmel fire. This is definitely a breakthrough.
Netanyahu also said that there was no shame in Israel’s reaching out for help at this time, considering the scale of the emergency:
“I would like to explain that we have a unique event here. It does have parallels around the world, in the giant brushfires that have occurred in Russia, the US, Greece and in several other countries. These are massive brushfires that cannot be compared to acts of arson or other fires. In a massive brushfire, first of all, there is a need to employ unique forces. This is not a routine event and it requires aerial activity. Ground forces are insufficient and most cannot stop even the start. Even the start, that oft-discussed cup of water, to put out the fire, in the event of a massive brushfire, it is almost always brought by plane or helicopter. This is to say that there is a need for aerial firefighting in order to deal with such fires. There is also a need to do this in cooperation because there is no country that I know of, and I spoke with both US President Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and with our friend, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who came to our aid immediately. All of these countries, and others, which have experienced these fires, were helped by other countries. This is no shame in this; it is part of our existence in the global village. We live in a global village; we both receive and extend assistance. Israel has extended assistance over the years in rescuing victims in other countries and Israel is now receiving assistance, very extensive assistance”.
He noted that “one thing is becoming clear: The Israeli people are standing together and many other peoples are standing together with us. This is not a small thing. This must certainly be a point of light during Chanukah … In the framework of the countries that are aiding us, there have been very interesting things. First, the fact that during Chanukah, Turkish pilots speaking Turkish, and pilots speaking Greek are flying together with Israeli pilots and this is important. This will certainly have positive repercussions from Israel’s point-of-view”.
Netanyahu announced that the regular Sunday session of his cabinet would convene in Tirat HaCarmel [and not, as usual, in Jerusalem] — even though the Carmel fire is not yet under control — “not just as an act of solidarity but also in order to make it clear that we will rehabilitate not only the people who have been injured but the homes and the forests that have been damaged as well”.
Huge fire out of control in Israel’s Carmel region near Haifa
[3 Dec 2010] A huge fire that apparently started Thursday and grew out of control within hours is burning in Israel’s beautiul Carmel region of hills in the Galilee region just south and east of Haifa, Israel’s major northern port city on its Mediterranean coast.
On Friday, Israeli police said that Haifa — which houses major Israeli oil and gas refinery facilities and pipelines — is out of danger. But, new fires do continue to break out, however. By Friday evening, the fire had shifted direction, and Haifa University was again threatened. A day earlier, preparations had been made to evacuate the entire city of Haifa, perhaps the most bi-ethnically egalitarian of all Israeli cities.
The LA Times has this graphic map:
Airborne efforts were called off after darkness, and will resume again on Saturday morning.
Some 41 people who died in the fire Thursday are reportedly now identified — and more casualties are expected.
A large number of the dead were prison guards riding in a bus towards the Dimon Prison [a women’s prison, we learn from Ma’an News Agency] to help in the evacuation which was ordered in the early afternoon. The fire shifted very suddenly, and trapped the entire bus. Few, if any, aboard that bus survived. A group of Haifa police officers riding in a car following that bus were also trapped. One — Haifa’s Deputy Police Commissioner — is in critical condition. She reportedly arrived at the hospital without any pulse, but a team of doctors managed to revive her.
Israeli police said Friday they believe one or more arsonists may be responsible for starting the fire that were started today in two other sites, as well as possibly the original brush fire that broke out in the Carmel region. Haaretz reported here that an IDF drone is now flying over the forest fire, and had filmed two men who were identified as residents of the Druse village of Daliet al-Carmel trying to ignite flammable material today in the Carmel region. Some of the identified victims are also Druse citizens of Israel.
UPDATE: Haaretz later updated its report to say that it has been determined that the two were not responsible for setting any fires, and released.
Now, experts say, it appears more likely that the main Carmel fire is the result of negligence.
The same Haaretz story reported that Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said: “The fire has spread to other areas throughout the day despite the efforts of dozens of foreign aircraft, and the situation is getting worse”, and added that “A Home Front Command officer also said that at this point the fire is only growing stronger”.
Israel, like neighboring countries in the region, is still experiencing summer-like temperatures during the day, and an increasingly-severe drought. There has been no winter rain so far, despite prayers organized recently at the Western or Wailing Wall in the Old City of East Jerusalem.
The Haaretz story says that “Authorities are closely monitoring wind directions and are preparing for the possibility that fires will spread to additional locations. Buses have been moved into to positions that will allow for additional evacuations if necessary”.
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