Dozens of homes evacuated as brush fire rages in Jerusalem area
Fire and Rescue Services dispatches planes, helicopter to battle blaze near Even Sapir; separate fire outside capital leads to partial highway closure
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A pair of major fires broke out Tuesday in forested areas near Jerusalem, prompting the evacuation of dozens of homes and the partial closure of a major highway.
The Israel Fire and Rescue Services said 16 firefighting crews were battling a major blaze near the farming community of Even Sapir west of Jerusalem and that six firefighting planes and a helicopter were also dispatched to the area.
Residents of 35 homes in Even Sapir were evacuated due to the approaching fire, according to authorities, while police said a number of homes were also evacuated in the nearby moshav of Aminadav.
Outside the entrance to Jerusalem, firefighters worked to extinguish a large brush fire. Police closed Begin Boulevard in both directions between the entrance to the city and the Golda Meir Interchange due to the fire.
The Fire and Rescue Services later said that blaze had been brought under control.
מאמצי כיבוי האש בשריפה שפרצה סמוך לישוב אבן ספיר @Yossi_eli
(צילום: כבאות והצלה) pic.twitter.com/aXwyabiO3D
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) June 4, 2019
Tuesday’s fires came after more than a thousand firefighters were dispatched throughout the country last month to battle 1,023 blazes that started over a period of 41 hours — a new fire every two and a half minutes, officials said. Thirteen firefighters were lightly injured.
The blazes burned down 7,940 dunams (1,962 acres) of forests, according to authorities’ data. One of the areas that suffered the worst damage was the Ben Shemen Forest, while some 50 houses burned down in central Israel — 40 of the 50 homes in Mevo Modi’im and 10 more in the nearby Kibbutz Harel.
The Times of Israel Community.