Firefighters battle brush fire in Haifa neighborhood

Crews work to contain blaze raging in wooded area along Carmel ridge; no injuries or major damage reported

By ToI Staff 10 July 2016, 1:02 am

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Illustrative photo of firefighters extinguishing a forest fire, April 25, 2016. (Basel Awidat/Flash90)

Dozens of firefighters struggled to contain a large brush fire raging outside Haifa’s Ramat Begin neighborhood on Saturday.

At least 12 firefighting teams and four planes battled the flames in the largely wooded area on the western slope of the Carmel ridge.

The fire was not yet fully under control, authorities said earlier in the evening, but the blaze has mostly been contained.

There were no reports of injuries or damage to local homes, officials said.

Brush fires are common in Israel during the intense summer heat. Last week, a brushfire in the Hazorea forest outside Haifa prompted the evacuation of some 3,000 children from a nearby summer camp.

In 2010, a massive brush fire in the Haifa-area Carmel Forest claimed the lives of 44 people as well as destroying millions of trees and hundreds of homes.