Jerusalem beset by fires as hot and dry weather persists
Blazes reported near US consulate, next to Hebrew University, in area southwest of city and in Gilo apartment
Four separate fires broke out on Sunday in Jerusalem as temperatures soared and dry conditions prevailed, in the Talpiot and Gilo neighborhoods, near the villages of Ora and Aminadav, and near the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus campus.
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On Sunday afternoon, a fire broke out in three different places in open fields next to the Mount Scopus campus. Four fire squads were fighting the blaze nearest the university. Additional squads were dispatched to Ras al-Amud where the other two fires are burning.
A brush fire also broke out on Sunday morning near the United States Consulate in Jerusalem. According to Ynet News, five firefighting squads were required to extinguish the blaze.
The consulate complex is located near the neighborhood of Talpiot, between the capital’s Armon HaNatziv and Arnona neighborhoods.
Another fire broke out late Sunday morning southwest of Jerusalem near the villages of Ora and Aminadav. Six firefighting crews fought that blaze, with the assistance of airplanes.
An additional fire was reported in an apartment in the neighborhood of Gilo.
No injuries were reported in any of the fires.
According to Army Radio, more than half of Jerusalem’s fire trucks are 20 or more years old and do not adhere to modern safety standards.
The Times of Israel Community.