FIRE

Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

Psalm 42: 11

Last Sunday (15/08) I was working at my computer when I decided to open my curtains and this is what I saw – a huge cloud of smoke looming omininously overhead and blotting out the sun. Another fire – the fourth big forest fire near here in the last few weeks (not counting the little fire we had by our house).

This fire burned for three days and was the biggest in Israel’s history. Some 6,200 acres (2,500 hectares or 25 square kilometers) of beautiful mature forest and all the animals in it were burned. Two hundred fire fighting units, comprising 1,500 fire fighters, and 20 planes battled the blaze without a break for 52 hours. Four of the units came from the Palestinian Authority. On the night of the second day a huge Israel Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules joined the battle dropping huge dollops of fire retardant and foam on the hotspots. The addition of this plane to our fire fighting resources was a big help as, unlike the small planes, it can operate at night as well as carry much larger loads of retardant. In total the planes dropped 190,000 liters of retardant and over half a million liters of foam (1).

The fire began near the town of Beit Meir, and quickly spread towards Shoresh and Shoeva. It then spread south and eastward towards Kisalon, Ramat Raziel, Giv’at Yearim and Tzuba, and all these communities were evacuated, as was the psychiatric hospital of Eitanim (you can look on Google maps to see where these communities are).

The 156 patients and the staff of the Eitanim hospital tell a harrowing story of how, when they were completely surrounded by fire, they prepared themselves to die, calling their loved ones to say goodbye. One staff member later told reporters, “All we could do at that moment was raise our hands to the sky and say, ‘God, save us.’ There was nothing we could do” (2). And God did. Four incredibly brave police officers somehow managed to break through the flames and lead all the people to safety, making a snap decision to evacuate them in private cars down the only access road through the flames. Two patients fled on foot and were lost for a while but at midnight one was located and the other found next day, both safe and well. The photo below of the hospital shows how perilously close the fire came.

As night fell the fire died down and, thinking it was under control, the authorities allowed some of the people to go home and cancelled the request for help from firefighters from other countries, including Greece, Cyprus and France (These fire crews were needed in their own countries, as it turned out).

Around noon the next day the wind picked up, as it always does at this time of the day in summer, and suddenly the fire came back to life, this time spreading even faster. The communities were evacuated again, with many people managing to flee with only the clothes on their backs. Many had to leave their pets and farm animals behind. That day, Monday, the fire continued spreading to the east and south and other communities were evacuated or put on standby. The fire spread through the national park of Sataf and was heading towards Jerusalem’s largest hospital, Hadassah Ein Kerem in which there were hundreds of patients and staff (if not thousands), many in intensive care units, the coronavirus ward or otherwise incapacitated. Rushed preparations were made to evacuate the hospital, a task all but impossible, but thankfully God heard our prayers again. The wind dropped two hours before it normally does and the hospital and several communities in the area were spared.

The firefighters, exhausted by now but determined and very courageous, worked through the night and, by the end of Tuesday, the fire was brought under control. It continues to smolder and the risk of fresh outbreaks remains. On Thursday several such outbreaks occurred but they were quickly brought under control.

All through this ordeal I was watching the progress of the fire, as it drew closer and closer to us. It came on two fronts to about 5km of the suburb in which I live and on Monday there was the possibility we might have to evacuate. Some Arab villages on the outskirts of Mevaseret were evacuated for a few hours until that front was brought under control. Fortunately for us, the wind direction was in our favor and the fire did not enter our town, but the photo above shows how vulnerable we are as the forest comes right up to the houses. The kibbutz of Tzuba, where I sometimes work, was evacuated but was spared, as was the home of my boss in neighbouring Givat Yearim.

Miraculously no one was killed during this fire and there were only a few minor injuries. Even the settlements were mostly saved, though now they are only small islands of green in a surreal black landscape. A few homes were damaged (there has been little detail in the news about how many) and some industrial workshops and farm buildings destroyed. A factory that makes ant poison exploded in Ramat Raziel spraying toxic chemicals into the air and old buildings made of asbestos added to the danger posed by the thick, dark cloud of smoke that blotted out the sun and polluted the air as far away as Jerusalem. The photo below shows the kibbutz of Giv’at Yearim, and you can see how the fire reached the very outskirts of the community. The long buildings in the burnt area are chicken houses where tens of thousands of chickens were incinerated. At least two horses were also lost but I do not remember in which community.

In Ramat Raziel the workshop of Harari Harps, owned by a family of believers, was totally burnt out destroying 40 years of work, though many of their harps will continue to bring much joy to many around the world.

The evidence suggests that this fire, like the others this summer, were the result of deliberate arson, probably by Palestinian terrorists. The authorities are reluctant to admit this without definitive evidence, and the government also has a vested interest in not saying so, because if it was terrorism, they would have to compensate those who lost property.

Please keep praying as the weather continues to be hot and very dry, and the mountain winds rise every afternoon. Even as I write there is a strong wind blowing. The valley beside my house is about the last green forest around Mevaseret, the rest having already burned in one or other of the fires. I am certain that your prayers, and ours, saved this from being an even greater disaster and also saved many lives. Pray too that the perpetrators can be tracked down and punished, not only for justice’ sake but also to prevent them starting more fires, and discouraging others from trying the same form of terrorism.

https://www.allisrael.com/video-aftermath-of-the-forest-fire-in-the-judean-hills

The good news is that the forest will regenerate. In fact, fire is a natural part of the Mediterranean woodland ecosystem. Many of the trees actually need fire for their seeds to germinate. Once the rain comes this blackened landscape will begin to turn green, first with annuals and those geophytes (plants with bulbs and tubers) that have survived and then the trees will start to grow. The regrowth will be a healthier mix of native species, less prone to destructive wildfires, if we can resist planting more pine trees. It may be a good thing that in a few weeks the smitta year begins when, according to the Bible, the land must be left fallow and it is forbidden to plant trees. In Israel we do not have any rain at all for 6-8 months, and the rainy season begins any time from September on but may come as late as January. Traditionally Jews in Israel begin to pray for rain towards the end of the Feast of Tabernacles (Succot) which finishes on the 28th of September this year. Some rabbis are calling for the ‘prayers for rain’ to begin early this year. It would be a blessing if they did as it would decrease the risk of fire, but we also need to pray that when the rains come they will not be too heavy. There is nothing to hold the soil on the burnt-over hillsides and heavy rain could cause much erosion and flooding in the valleys. It has been the hottest summer on record in Israel and I am seeing signs of stress in the trees. Several of the trees around my house are either dead or dying. Even my garden trees are barely surviving though I water them every day.

Trees are very important to Israelis. When Mark Twain visited the Land of Israel in the 1860s he described it as a barren land, devoid of trees. The early Jewish settlers planted trees everywhere they could and as a result Israel was the only country in the world to finish the 20th century with more trees than it had in 1900. The Keren Kayemet Leumi (KKL) organization, tasked with the reforestation, has planted some 250 million trees in the last 100 or so years and forests now cover around 8% of the land, in spite of our sprawling cities and dense population. Not only that, every city and town is full of beautiful trees. The forests and trees of the Land therefore are dear to the heart of every Israeli and any attack on our forests hurts us to our core. Please pray for the safety of our forests and trees. One day, God will judge those who harm the trees.

Let the trees of the forest sing,
    let them sing for joy before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth.

I Chronicles 16:33

[_{There are many more things I could write about today but I will go ahead and publish this now, as I know many of you are awaiting news. I will write more later about the coronavirus in Israel, developments in Gaza and the situation in Afghanistan and in Lebanon and publish it soon.} ]

References:

1. https://www.timesofisrael.com/nothing-was-left-residents-return-to-communities-hit-by-jerusalem-fire/
2. https://www.timesofisrael.com/we-said-its-all-over-hospital-staff-recount-dramatic-rescue-as-flames-neared/
3. https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-fire-will-reach-them-in-a-minute-cops-recount-tense-hospital-evacuation/
4. https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-investigators-increasingly-believe-jerusalem-area-blaze-caused-by-arson/