Huge Fire in Israel Kills 40, One of the Worst Disasters in Israel's History

Man, this fire in Israel is still raging and to this hour, 40 people have died as a result of it - the fire is in the northern part of the country and amazingly, even the country of Turkey has offered to help the Israelis in an effort to put it out.

From the report at Haaretz:

40 people died on Thursday as a huge brushfire was raging across the Carmel Mountains near Haifa, killing and injuring dozens, among them prison guards and firemen.

A total of 12,000 people were reportedly evacuated from their homes in the north on Thursday evening due to the enormous fire.

"We lost all control of the fire," said the Haifa firefighting services spokesman on Thursday. "There aren't enough firefighting resources in Israel in order to put out the fire," he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hurried to the scene of the fire on Thursday evening. He called the fire raging across the north of the country a "disaster on an international scale," saying that at this time we must focus on only two objectives: saving lives and extinguishing the fire.

"We do not have what it takes to put out the fire, but help is on the way. As a result of calls I have made, there are currently ten aircraft on their way to Israel from Greece, France and Cyprus," Netanyahu said.

The 40 dead came from a horrific situation where a busload of prison workers were being brought in to help fight the fire and the bus got too close to the raging inferno - the bus was hit with flames and killed nearly everyone on board.

Our prayers here go out to Israel and her citizens. And our thanks go out to Cyprus, Greece, France and Spain and yes, Turkey, for having the courage and soul to send help and assistance. I want to note that the Israelis asked Russia for help and none was given.

Disaster in the North: 40 dead as fire rages across Carmel Mountains


40 people died on Thursday as a huge brushfire was raging across the Carmel Mountains near Haifa, killing and injuring dozens, among them prison guards and firemen.

A total of 12,000 people were reportedly evacuated from their homes in the north on Thursday evening due to the enormous fire.

Firefighting crews were still battling with the flames into the evening hours and expressed no hope of controlling the fire soon.

"We lost all control of the fire," said the Haifa firefighting services spokesman on Thursday. "There aren't enough firefighting resources in Israel in order to put out the fire," he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hurried to the scene of the fire on Thursday evening. He called the fire raging across the north of the country a "disaster on an international scale," saying that at this time we must focus on only two objectives: saving lives and extinguishing the fire.

"We do not have what it takes to put out the fire, but help is on the way. As a result of calls I have made, there are currently ten aircraft on their way to Israel from Greece, France and Cyprus," Netanyahu said.



"This is a difficult hour, and we will need to learn lessons for the future, but at this moment, our only thoughts are to save lives and protect the forces that are dealing with this catastrophe," Netanyahu added. "I believe they are doing an outstanding job."

The prime minister also said that no risks would be taken, even if it means evacuating many people from their homes. "Evacuations will be conducted as needed, with sufficient advance warning. We do not want any more injuries.

The 40 individuals who died were students in the Prison Service's prison guard course who were being brought to the Damon Prison to aid in evacuating the prisoners there.

According to an initial investigation of the events, a tree fell down in the middle of the road the bus was taking, trapping the bus between the flames. As a result, 40 of the 50 prison guards who were on the bus died from the flames. Seven individuals were evacuated from the scene in serious condition and transferred to Haifa hospitals.

Head of the Haifa Police Department, Deputy Commander Ahuva Tomer was critically injured as a result of the huge brushfire in the Carmel region.

A mass evacuation began Thursday evening as firefighters were still battling the flames. Residents of the western neighborhoods of Tirat Hacarmel were evacuated from their homes.

Police forces were also preparing to evacuate prisoners from Prison 6 and Carmel Prison in northern Israel, and students in Haifa University who reside in the dormitories were evacuated to a nearby high school.

Some 200 patients from the Tirat Hacarmel psychiatric hospital were also evacuated to other hospitals in northern cities.

Residents of Kibbutz Beit Oren were already evacuated from their homes on Thursday afternoon, as the entire Kibbutz went up in flames. The Kibbutz was home to 400 residents who earned a living mostly off agriculture.

Firefighting forces have been working without success on putting out the flames since the afternoon hours on Thursday, trying to battle the massive blaze which has already burned down at least 7,000 dunams of natural forest.

Haifa mayor Yonah Yahav said early Thursday that "the flames spread on a scale we've never seen." Magen David Adom Director General Eli Bin defined the fire as "the worst disaster in Israel's history."