Police said to rule out arson balloon in fire at home in southern Israel
Damage is caused to a wall and outdoor roofing of Be’eri home, no injuries; incident comes after 4 fires started nearby from balloons carrying incendiary devices
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Damage is caused to the wall of a home in the southern town of Be'eri near the Gaza border, on August 6, 2021. (courtesy)
A fire ignited on Friday evening next to a home in the southern town of Be’eri. Investigators probed the possibility it was caused by balloons carrying incendiary devices launched from Gaza, but later found that it was not, Hebrew media reports said.
The blaze caused damage to the wall of the home and outdoor wooden roofing. It was extinguished quickly by residents, the Ynet news site reported.
There were no reports of injuries in the incident.
Israel Fire and Rescue Services investigators headed to the scene to investigate the cause, which was suspected to have been due to arson balloons launched from Gaza, Hebrew-language media reports said. The area is close to where several of the incendiary devices landed earlier in the day.
Earlier on Friday, four brush fires were ignited in southern Israel by balloons carrying incendiary devices that were launched from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
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Three of the fires ignited in the Kissufim forest, and another one in the Be’eri forest, two nature reserves located on the border of Israel and Gaza, a spokesperson for the Jewish National Fund said.
Firefighters try to extinguish a blaze in southern Israel that was sparked by a balloon-borne incendiary device launched by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, on August 6, 2021. (Moshe Baruchi/KKL-JNF)
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