Haifa resident says city failed to create forest buffer zone

Haifa resident Yehudit Tzenner says that the municipality failed to act on its promises and create a barrier between the woods and the homes of the outlying Haifa neighborhood where she lives.

“We had a neighbor… and he warned about this forest as a danger – and it did happen. These woods were set alight and they set fire to everything else,” says Tzenner, a tenant of a building that was destroyed in the fire.

She tells the Ynet news website that it will take “months and tens of thousands of shekels” to restore these homes.

A preliminary examination by the Haifa Municipality reveals that at least 412 homes in the city were damaged beyond repair and are unlivable, leaving more than 1,000 people effectively homeless.

Tzenner says her family has rented another house and is in the process of moving.