From the Liveblog of
Sunday, May 4, 2025
Comptroller tours areas devastated by fire, warns ‘we were one step away from losing a life’
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Earlier today State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman toured sites impacted by last week’s wildfires near Jerusalem, saying, “We were one step away from losing a life,” and revealing that he warned National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Fire and Rescue Commissioner Eyal Caspi about gaps in fire preparedness in June.
The warnings followed a tour last year of sites of fires in the north sparked by rockets or drones deployed by the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon during its war with Israel.
Concluding his tour of Sha’ar Hagai, Latrun, Mesilat Zion and Neve Shalom with Caspi, Englman said his office will produce two reports this year on local authorities’ handling of fires and the competence of the fire and rescue system, in terms of manpower and readiness.
The comptroller says: “The fires of the past two weeks are a warning sign to the prime minister and the national security minister regarding the necessary preparation and the resources that must be allocated to the Israel Fire and Rescue Authority.”
He adds that it is important to give the service funds as well as legal powers as a security body.
The Times of Israel Community.