Record-setting wildfires have broken out across the planet in 2021, from California to Turkey and from Greece to Siberia, raising concerns about how a warming global climate could make fires larger and more common, but also about how humans use the land in areas prone to wildfires.
A powerful new wildfire in the hills to the west of Jerusalem has the Israeli government looking for international help to fight the blaze. Just last week, Israel sent its own firefighters to help Greece tame a wave of fires.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid appealed to his counterparts in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, France, and other countries in the region for help against the fire that began on Sunday near Beit Meir, about nine miles west of Jerusalem.
Photos and videos posted on social media captured the towering flames as they consumed the land’s legendary pine trees and the billowing smoke blotted out the sun over Jerusalem.
On Monday afternoon, Israeli officials began evacuating the residents of Shoeva, Kibbutz Tzuba and Kiryat Yearim, Ein Nakuba, Shoresh, Har Etan, and the Eitanim psychiatric hospital, according to Haaretz.
Simchi said the fires “were a human act,” noting there had not been any lightning strikes in the country on Sunday. “We don’t know yet if it was arson or negligence. We’ll investigate.”
No deaths have been reported as of yet, but one firefighter was injured. In the 2010 Mount Carmel blaze, 44 people were killed.
The Defense Ministry told the Times of Israel on Monday that it was looking to rent six aircraft from private aviation company Chim-Nir “to expand our aerial firefighting capability.” They will join another 10 firefighting aircraft already in service in the area.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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