Jerusalem fire forces evacuation of Israel Museum, damages youth wing’s roof

A large fire broke out in Jerusalem’s Valley of the Cross on Sunday afternoon, resulting in damage to the roof of the nearby Israel Museum’s youth wing and the evacuation of the museum.

The fire was brought under control shortly before 4 p.m., the Fire and Rescue Services said, and teams were working to ensure that it was fully extinguished so it could not reignite and start spreading again.

Some 23 firefighting teams were called to the scene of the fire, which broke out at around 12:40 p.m., and eight firefighting planes also worked to battle the blaze.

In addition, the Israel Police said it had dispatched a large number of forces to the scene, and that its aerial unit was also assisting in battling the fire.

In a statement, the police also instructed the public to avoid the area and to take alternate routes while driving.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear, but unseasonably high temperatures were recorded across the country on Sunday, with the Jerusalem area reaching a high of 93 °F (roughly 34 °C).

שרפה פרצה בעמק המצלבה בירושלים: 14 צוותי כיבוי והצלה ממרחב תחנת "הבירה" מבצעים כעת פעולות לכיבוי מוקדי השרפה ומניעת התפשטותה. לאחר הערכת מצב הוחלט לפנות את מוזיאון ישראל. צילום: יוחאי תמיר pic.twitter.com/vmCCaToA4J

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Following an assessment, the Fire and Rescue Services decided to evacuate the nearby Israel Museum, as it was in the path of the spreading flames.

The museum later confirmed that although some damage was caused to the roof of the youth wing, nobody was injured and none of the museum’s works were in danger.

The Israel Museum is the country’s largest cultural institution, and in 2021 was listed as the world’s 17th largest museum.

It houses some 500,000 works, ranging from prehistoric to contemporary art, as well as an extensive Biblical and Holy Land archaeology collection, which has earned it a reputation as one of the world’s leading art and archeology museums.

It is also home to the Dead Sea Scrolls, a set of ancient Jewish manuscripts dating back to the third century BCE. They are kept in the museum’s Shrine of the Book wing, along with several other ancient Jewish manuscripts.