Perilous Times
Israel's top policewoman dies from fire burns
By AMY TEIBEL
The Associated Press
Monday, December 6, 2010; 4:41 AM
JERUSALEM -- Israel's top policewoman, who had clung to life for four
days after her patrol car was trapped in a burning Israel forest, died
Monday of her wounds.
Deputy Commander Ahuva Tomer, head of the police department in Haifa,
Israel's third-largest city, had been driving behind a bus of prison
guards rushing to evacuate a prison Thursday when both vehicles were
engulfed in flames.
Her death raised to 42 the number of people who died in the wildfire
that consumed a 20-square-mile (50-square-kilometer) area in the Carmel
forest, a popular nature spot on Haifa's outskirts. It is the worst
fire in Israel's history.
The 52-year-old policewoman became a symbol of the fire's victims after
a TV reporter interviewed her just minutes before she set out on what
became her last mission. She spoke of the pain of seeing the forest
burn and nodding ruefully, added, "It looks like it will last a long
time."
The fire that killed the Soviet-born Tomer has generated much
soul-searching in Israel about the state of the country's leadership,
because firefighters had long warned that the neglected state of their
operation was a recipe for disaster.
Hours after the blaze broke out Thursday, firefighters ran out of
flame-retardant chemicals. They also did not have a single firefighting
plane in their possession.
Israel was forced to appeal to other countries to send planes and
material to put out the raging blaze, which on Monday had been reduced
to one isolated point, according to police.
Israel's vulnerability prompted critics to ask whether the nation's
leaders could cope with far more serious challenges, like rocket
attacks from Iranian-backed militants or a nuclear-armed Iran.
On the other hand, the fire has also generated much pride in the
bravery and leadership of those like Tomer and a 16-year-old volunteer
firefighter who died trying to rescue those aboard the bus.
Two teenage brothers are being held on suspicion that they
inadvertently set the fire. Two other minors were arrested on suspicion
of involvement in the fire and were being questioned Monday, police
spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Most of the 17,000 people evacuated during the fire have returned to
their homes.
Although the blaze was small by international standards, it was
considered a calamity in Israel, where only 7 percent of the land is
wooded.