Israel gripped by growing anger as firefighters struggle to contain Wildfire blaze
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Dec 3, 2010, 3:20:22 PM12/3/10
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Perilous Times
Israel gripped by growing anger as firefighters struggle to contain Wildfire blaze
A mood of recrimination has gripped Israel as government negligence was blamed for the deaths of at least 42 people in the deadliest forest fire in the country's history.
An Israeli firefighter tries to prevent a blaze from spreading during the fire in the Carmel Forest
Adrian Blomfield
By Adrian Blomfield, Mt Carmel 5:50PM GMT 03 Dec 2010
The Telegraph UK
Successive administrations ignored repeated pleas for more manpower and equipment despite warnings by official commissions of inquiry that the country would struggle to contain a major natural disaster, senior officials in the Israeli fire department said.
The growing anger came as Israel marked an official day of mourning for the dead, nearly all young cadets in the prison service whose bus became trapped in the fire after a burning tree fell across a road, cutting off their escape route. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, described the fire as an "unprecedented disaster".
Israel's overstretched fire services struggled for a second day to contain the blaze as it advanced through the foothills of Mt Carmel, where Elijah is held to have challenged the prophets of Baal to a fire-starting contest.
European firefighting aircraft, including an RAF helicopter dispatched from Cyprus, joined the fight, dumping thousands of tonnes of fire retardant on the smouldering valleys.
The international assistance, while welcomed, highlighted the shortcomings of Israel's own firefighting capacities, and senior rescue service officials complained that their requests for aircraft had been turned down.
"It's very hard to control such a large fire with firefighting aircraft," said Haim Tamam, the deputy commissioner of the Israeli Fire and Rescue Department. "Without them, it's impossible.
"The lack of manpower and equipment, the lack of firefighting aircraft and water infrastructure in risk areas creates an uncontrollable situation when a fire breaks out."
A number of privately-owned firefighting aircraft were summoned to assist but because they were not on standby they took over two hours to reach the scene of the fire, why which time it was already out of control.
"If the appropriate means were available, whose lack I have reiterated over the past year, some of those killed would have been saved and the fire would not have reached such a scale," said David Golan, the director of the company that owned the aircraft.
Israel gripped by growing anger as firefighters struggle to contain Wildfire blaze
A mood of recrimination has gripped Israel as government negligence was blamed for the deaths of at least 42 people in the deadliest forest fire in the country's history.
An Israeli firefighter tries to prevent a blaze from spreading during the fire in the Carmel Forest
Adrian Blomfield
By Adrian Blomfield, Mt Carmel 5:50PM GMT 03 Dec 2010
The Telegraph UK
Successive administrations ignored repeated pleas for more manpower and equipment despite warnings by official commissions of inquiry that the country would struggle to contain a major natural disaster, senior officials in the Israeli fire department said.
The growing anger came as Israel marked an official day of mourning for the dead, nearly all young cadets in the prison service whose bus became trapped in the fire after a burning tree fell across a road, cutting off their escape route. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, described the fire as an "unprecedented disaster".
Israel's overstretched fire services struggled for a second day to contain the blaze as it advanced through the foothills of Mt Carmel, where Elijah is held to have challenged the prophets of Baal to a fire-starting contest.
European firefighting aircraft, including an RAF helicopter dispatched from Cyprus, joined the fight, dumping thousands of tonnes of fire retardant on the smouldering valleys.
The international assistance, while welcomed, highlighted the shortcomings of Israel's own firefighting capacities, and senior rescue service officials complained that their requests for aircraft had been turned down.
"It's very hard to control such a large fire with firefighting aircraft," said Haim Tamam, the deputy commissioner of the Israeli Fire and Rescue Department. "Without them, it's impossible.
"The lack of manpower and equipment, the lack of firefighting aircraft and water infrastructure in risk areas creates an uncontrollable situation when a fire breaks out."
A number of privately-owned firefighting aircraft were summoned to assist but because they were not on standby they took over two hours to reach the scene of the fire, why which time it was already out of control.
"If the appropriate means were available, whose lack I have reiterated over the past year, some of those killed would have been saved and the fire would not have reached such a scale," said David Golan, the director of the company that owned the aircraft.
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