Authorities evacuated people from a guesthouse early Friday morning as a large wildfire engulfed part of the Jerusalem Forest.
The blaze near the Ziporri guesthouse came as authorities warned that hot, dry weather and high winds could lead to a rash of fires around the country.
Eight teams of firefighters, along with firefighting planes, were called to battle the blaze, according to Hebrew media reports.
The firefighters eventually contained the blaze and prevented it from spreading to houses in Jerusalem and nearby towns.
The Jerusalem Forest is a heavily wooded area popular with hikers that covers hills to the west of the city. The Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum sits on the edge of the forest.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
Authorities warned Thursday that the weather over the weekend would be similar to November 2016, when drought-like conditions helped feed a massive outbreak of wildfires across the country.
The largest of those fires was in Haifa, where the weather conditions prompted the city to put firefighting units on high alert over the weekend.
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
