Firefighters battle Beit Shemesh area blazes into night, but evacuees allowed to return
Ten firefighters, two civilians and a policewoman hurt; efforts ongoing to control blaze west of Beit Meir; Jerusalem fire service to be reinforced by northern personnel
Firefighters on Wednesday evening said they would have to work intensely through the night to put out a major brushfire in the Beit Shemesh area but that it was safe enough for residents nearby to return to their homes after they were evacuated earlier in the day.
Three firefighters and a policewoman were injured while authorities worked to control multiple blazes that broke out during the day due to high winds and intense heat, the Fire and Rescue Services said in a statement. Earlier, a Fire and Rescue Authority spokesman told The Times of Israel that nine people were lightly injured as a result of the blazes, including seven firefighters and two civilians.
After an assessment by the Fire and Rescue Services at 10 p.m., the evacuated residents of Eshtaol, Beit Meir, and Mesilat Zion were allowed to return home. Routes 38, 44, and 6, which were closed earlier due to the fires, were reopened later in the evening as blazes in those areas were brought under control.
Route 1 was closed from 11 p.m. until midnight so that firefighters could carry out measures to prevent future blazes. Earlier footage showed a fire burning near the road.
The Fire and Rescue service said earlier that firefighters were still operating inside Mesilat Zion and carrying out measures to protect neighboring Beit Meir. West of the community, firefighters were working to put gain control of a major blaze.
Jerusalem Fire and Rescue Services head Shmulik Friedman issued a general call-up of firefighters earlier Wednesday. A firefighting Samson plane was set to operate throughout the area overnight, the Fire and Rescue services stated. Additionally, the Jerusalem-area service is set to be reinforced by 19 firetrucks and 30 jeeps from the northern district’s service.
כעת על כביש 1. הכביש פתוח, השריפה התחדשה. pic.twitter.com/Co2axfcHwQ
— Yossi Eli (@Yossi_eli) April 23, 2025
The fire initially broke out close to Moshav Tarum near Beit Shemesh. Strong winds whipped up the flames as teams fought the blaze on the ground with support from aircraft. Police asked the public to exercise caution and stay away from the affected areas.
In addition to over one hundred firefighting squads, fire engines belonging to the Israeli Air Force and Technological and Logistics Directorate operated alongside the Fire and Rescue Service and Israel Police.
An IAF aircraft also assisted with building an “aerial picture” of the fire while members of the Home Front Command were dispatched to assist with evacuating civilians from areas under threat.
The Israel Meteorological Service had warned of “extreme” weather on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the potential for record-breaking temperatures.
The vast majority of forest fires in Israel are caused by humans and are usually the result of negligence.
Israel experiences long, hot and dry summers, with conditions ripe for wildfires. Large blazes broke out in 1989, 1995, 2010, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023.
Climate models show that such large-scale blazes are getting more frequent and more fast-spreading, in part due to the climate crisis, which has raised temperatures and caused even more extreme summers with drier conditions.
A scathing report by the state comptroller in July 2024 found that the Fire and Rescue Authority had investigated the cause of only about 9% of the fires it handled in 2022 and 14% of those it dealt with in 2023. More than 50% of the probes it opened between 2020 and 2022 were still open after a year.
The audit found that the authority operated without written and approved policy documents on how to run fire investigations, and that the existing policy was based neither on documented risk analysis nor optimal management. The report also found that 75% of files opened by police on suspicion of arson offenses in 2019 to 2022 were closed without indictments. During these years, 228 files were opened on suspicion of arson with a nationalist background, but indictments were only filed in a third of those cases.
Sue Surkes, Charlie Summers, and Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.