Firefighters battle large brush fire outside Jerusalem
Residents of Ein Kerem and Moshav Even Sapir are evacuated as crews struggle to contain blaze
Hundreds of residents of Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem neighborhood and the nearby Moshav Even Sapir were evacuated from their homes as dozens of firefighters struggled to contain a large brush fire on the outskirts of the capital Sunday.
At least 30 firefighting teams along with eight planes battled the flames in the largely wooded area west of Jerusalem.
Three firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation.
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.
הכניסה ליישוב אבן ספיר נחסמה בעקבות השריפה. פינוי הבתים נמשך. שוטרי אגף התנועה נערכים לחסימת כביש 1 לכיוון ירושלים pic.twitter.com/utUX2Zx1WS
— משטרת ישראל (@IL_police) August 2, 2015
According to authorities, there was no immediate threat to the nearby Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.
The blaze comes as the country is suffering through a heatwave, and temperatures in Jerusalem Sunday soared to a toasty 40° C (104° F).
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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 IDF Ofer base, north of Jerusalem, outside the Palestinian city of Ramallah.
