After lengthy battle, firefighters control brush blaze
Residents of Moshav Even Sapir were evacuated as crews struggled for eight hours to contain huge forest fire
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Firefighting teams finally gained control over a large forest fire that ravaged areas on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Sunday, enabling hundreds of residents to return to their homes in Moshav Even Sapir that was evacuated earlier as it was threatened by the flames.
Some 40 firefighting teams, along with eight planes, battled the flames for eight hours in the largely wooded area west of Jerusalem.
Three firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation and a number of buildings, including three homes, were destroyed in Even Sapir. There were no injuries among the residents of the community.
It was not clear what started the blaze.
According to authorities, there was no immediate threat to the nearby Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.
Although the smell of charred wood was carried on the wind across Jerusalem, the Environmental Protection Ministry said it had tested the air quality in the area and there was no danger to the capital’s residents or a need to remain indoors.
Police temporarily closed Route 1, the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, on Sunday afternoon after the flames neared the highway. The road was later reopened.
The blaze came as the country suffered through a heat wave, and temperatures in Jerusalem Sunday soared to a toasty 40° C (104° F).
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The hot, dry conditions made containing the fire more challenging for firefighters.
In recent weeks, a wave of fires in the Jerusalem suburbs has burned more than 1,500 dunams (370 acres) of forest. Police suspect arsonists in some of the cases after discovering the remains of Molotov cocktails where they believe the blazes started.
Firefighters were also working Sunday to douse two other blazes, near the West Bank settlement of Elon Moreh, near the Palestinian city of Nablus; and near the Israel Defense Forces Ofer base, north of Jerusalem, outside the Palestinian city of Ramallah.
The Times of Israel Community.