11:55 AM Over 60 people hurt in this train fire, many from broken glass when jumping out of windows to escape flames; 2 of them in moderate condition the rest were lightly hurt; smoke inhalation, minor burns. Updates are now closed on this incident.
Photo credit: On Line News in Real Time. (source) 11:13 AM Train fire caused by train engine. 11:03 AM Suspicion lowering regarding train accident being possible terror attack. Soldier shooting open the door to save everyone apparently caused concern it might be a terror attack.
4train cars burning at this point. 49 injured so far (2 moderate).
11:01 AM Count is up to 40 lightly injured so far. 10:50 AM Train Accident in Azor Yarkon (Sharon area) 2 train cars on fire. 20 wounded. Soldier fired on door to get it open for people to escape.
High suspicion at the moment that train accident is actually a terror attack.
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Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
R' Ovadia Yosef: The Fire is because of transgressing the Shabbat. (Ynet / translated)
12:09 AM (Sunday). Police report that a wave of new fires continue to be started by arsonists around Israel.
Super tanker to arrive at 1:15 AM
Nir Etzion holds out -- the community of Nir Etzion in the Carmel Forest area continues to hold out, as fire fighters are battling the fires around it. Not one home has been burned in Nir Etzion according to a resident's SMS message, sent at 9:31 PM, Saturday night. He reports that 38 residents and soldiers are standing guard over the community, taking care of the 1000 cows (and milking them) and helping fight the fire. (source)
11:57 PM Evergreen super taknker to arrive in the coming hours -- will start work immediately.
11:51 PM How does this fire affect me personally?
1. The father of a classmate of my son died in the fire. 2. My brother in law's - sister in law's house was destroyed by the fire. 3. A 16 year old volunteer firefighter died on Thursday afternoon. One of my son's also volunteers as a fire fighter.
Despite being far away, the fire has hit very close to home.
7:20 PMSaturday night. New fire started in Neve Ativ in Golan.
6:12 PM Saturday night. 40,000 dunams (9800 acres) and 4 million trees burned down. All firefighting planes stopped for the night, as they can't fly low at night as well as because of the smoke. Netanyahu orders the rental of Evergreen supertanker (modified 747 Jumbo. Holds 80,000 liters of water) - and it can fly at night, costs 180,000 USD / day to rent.
4:02 PM2 arsonists caught trying to start a new fire. Police interrogating them to discover connection to earlier fires.
3:12 PM Satellite photo showing smoke trail from fire.
3:04 PM Police officially announce they suspect arson after bag, wig, and bicycle found near center of one fire.
2:51 PM (VERY UNCONFIRMED) Police chasing after 2 possible arsonist driving a black Toyota. No updates on this yet.
2:45 PM Fire fighting team come to help from... Jordan! 20 fire trucks arrive, and Jordanian FM announces that 1000 Jordanian firemen are available and on stand-by for Israel.
2:37 PM Listen to the silence on 531 AM. The shabbat emergency channel for residents up North.
Residents of Krayot (North Haifa) residents to keep windows and doors shut due to hazardous materials released into air.
More sign of arson being the cause as 3 more fires start in Kiryat Bialik industrial zone at around 11:00 AM.
1:09 PM The smoke from the Carmel Forest Fire can be seen on the Northern horizon from Petach Tikva (central Israel)
Police physically evict residents of Nir Etzion and Beit Oren who returned to their homes.
The Rabbi of Nir Etzion has evacuated all the Torah Scrolls from the synagogue.
Over 1000 cows in danger at the Nir Etzion dairy farm.
Five additional fires are now burning north of Haifa in the Krayot distritct. (Kiryat Bialik)
Highway 2 to Haifa from Tel Aviv is being opened sporadically.
Over 15,000 people have been evacuated so far from their homes.
Additional fire fighting chemicals arriving this evening from France.
As of 1:10 PM, Israel's national fire-fighting service states they do not have the massive Carmel fire under control
11:26 AM Estimates up to 30,000 dunams (7400 acres) destroyed.
11:20 AM Netanyahu announces that government will pay for rebuilding of homes destroyed by fire (how will it do that, when it couldn't handle the homes for 8000 residents expelled from Gaza?).
Reforestation of Carmel Forest will be a national priority project.
11:14 AMPolice close Highway 2 after fire jumps over Highway 4 (closed since last night). Both are the main highways connecting Haifa to central Israel.
9:20 AM More pictures from the fire:
9:14 AM Not just equipment from other countries. 100 firefighters from Bulgaria arrive to help Israel.
9:12 AMNames of some fire victims releases. 1:47 AM Jameel signing off for the night. Blogging will resume in the early AM. Foreign fire fighting planes to arrive starting at 2 AM.
12:07 AM Do you live in Israel and want to help? National Hotline to help families displaced by the fire: 02-652-2222
12:03 AM Egypt offers firefighting support. 200 IDF HomeFront command reserve firefighters drafted under emergency draft rule 8. Haifa Police Chief Ahuva Tomer in critical condition -- hurt during the fire earlier today.
11:45 PM Channel 2 reports that the fire simultaneously started this morning in 3 separate locations.
Strong winds are now driving the fire in the direction of Haifa.
Gilboa Region community of "Ein Harod" setting up tent city to house some of the families evacuated by the fire.
If you live in the Shomron area, you can volunteer to host families by calling the Shomron Regional Council Emergency Volunteer Hotline to provide housing assistance for displaced families: 1-700-700-106
11:34 PM This is the emergency broadcast I received on my EMT first responder radio when the first report arrived of the bus catching on fire tragedy today.
11:32 PM MK Ayoub Kara demands the death penalty for the terrorist-arsonists who started the fire.
11:31 PM Emergency Prayer and Tehillim services at the Kotel now, lead by Israeli Chief Rabbis and Rav Ovadya Yosef.
11:29 PM Israel Chemical Company announces it will offer 100% of its fire-fighting chemical stock located in Israel and France to help fight the fire, at no cost.
11:26 PM IDF sending combat cadets from the Paratrooper, Golani and Kvir Brigades to help with the evacuattion.
11:21 PM Updates: Over 12,000 people evacuated from their homes. Prison Services deny that 4 prisoners escaped. Foregin Minister Avigdor Leiberman announces that 12 countries are now sending firefighting planes and equipment...and that the Pentagon is checking if they have available equipment to send from the area.
11:18 PM MK Ayoub Kara (Likud) announces on Channel 10 TV that the fire was "an attack" and deliberately set. Developing story....
11:14 PM Channel 10 reports that four inmates escaped during the evacuation and are currently at large.
Massive fire in Israel can be seen from space - NASA satellite photo Thursday, December 2, 2010 - 21:37
A massive forest fire broke out near Haifa in Israel today and NASA took a image of it with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Agua satellite. The photo was taken at 12:10pm local time.
You can see a red line on the outside of the fire drawn by NASA. Strong winds fueled the fire.
40 People died thus far of the fire and the fire is now totally out of control (time of writing). The worst hit part is Carmel Mountain region, the IDF allocated all its resources to fight the fire.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek.
10:55 PM JNF reports over 10,000 dunams of forest have been destroyed by the fire.
10:51 PM 36 of the victims' bodies have so far been positively identified.
10:50 PM Teacher-Soldiers drafted to aid in evacuations.
10:46 PM Fire-fighting aid from Foreign counties:
5 firefighting planes from Greece 2 firefighting planes from Azerbaijan 1 firefighting helicopter from Cyprus 4 firefighting planes and necessary fire-retardant chemicals from France 2 firefighting planes and 3 firefighting helicopter from Croatia 2 firefighting helicopters from Turkey
(Channel 2 News)
10:42 PM Emergency Phone Numbers:
Rambam Hospital: 12-55-144 Carmel Hospital: 12-55-142 Bnei Zion Hospita: 12-55-145 Social-Security Welfare 24 hotline: 118 Emergency Hotline for Families of Prison Services Workers: 08-977-5701
Shomron Regional Council Emergency Volunteer Hotline to provide housing assistance for displaced families: 1-700-700-106
10:40 PM Italy not able to send fire-fighting planes due to stormy weather.
10:38 PM New, additional fire location in the Segev Region near the community of Moreshet. (Channel 10)
Update: At 11:30 PM this evening, emergency prayers and tehillim will be recited at the Kotel, led by R' Ovadia Yosef and Israel's Chief Rabbis.
10:35 PM Channel 10 News: "Beit Oren (the first community affected by the fire) looks like a war zone." Some reports say that nearly the entire kibbutz has been destroyed. 10:34 PM Carmel Hospital Completely Evacuated.
Foreign FireFighter Planes to arrive at 2 AM
10:26 PM As of 10:20 PM, over 10,000 people have been evacuated from their homes due to the fire.
10:24 PM Google Israel puts link for emergency numbers for residents in the Carmel Fire region on the main Google Israel page.
10:19 PM "Chessed" Organizations are distributing food to the hundreds and hundreds of emergency rescue volunteers on the scene; IDF, Police, Fire Department, Magen David Adom, United Hatzala and ZAKA. They are being given drinks, food and sufganiyot (jelly donuts)
10:17 PM 15 additional victims bodies found -- were previously defined as "missing"
9:58 PMA sense of national tragedy is enveloping the nation of Israel as the huge fire burns out of control, threatening more and more communities in the Carmel region.
Tirat HaCarmel, a city of 20,000 people is now being ordered to evacuate as well.
9:48 PM Prime Minister Netanyahu announces "we will declare a day of national mourning, but now we must fight the fire"
News Roundup:
The following additional communities are being evacuated due to the raging, spreading fire:
Tehillim and prayer services commence in the Ponivitch Yeshiva in Bnei Brak and cars with loud speakers are going around Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, beseeching people to pray for the "burning land of Israel".
Communities around Israel are scrambling to provide housing and shelter for the families being evacuated from their homes in fire-ravaged area of the Carmel mountain range.
Heads of IDF, Police and Prime Minister at crisis management center near location of fire.
8:00 PM Definition of Irony: Greece to send firefighting planes to help Israel...on Chanuka.
40 confirmed dead. Magen David Adom reports that there are 67 Ambulances on the scene.
Community of GivatWolfson, people are trapped in their homes.
Channel 2 News reports that high winds are fanning the flames which is burning out of control.
Police announces that Police Commander Ahuva Tomer of Hafia has been critically wounded by the fire and is currently fighting for her life.
7:43 PM Channel 2 Israel TV announces that Israel's firefighters have exhasuted the national supply of fire-fighting chemicals, and the only resources available to fight the fire are water and firebreaks (pre-burned lines to prevent the fire from spreading.
The bodies of 22 prison services cadets have been identified so far.
7:35 PM Jameel here. Took hours to get home from Jerusalem as Highway 6 Northbound is a traffic lot, as firetrucks and emergency vehicles try to race northwards to try and contain the fire.
PM Netanyahu has requested fire fighting planes to help put out the fire from Russia, Greece, Cyprus and Italy.
The IDF is about to evacuate Nir Etzion and 2 other communities due to the fire. Hafia University is on evacuation alert.
Magen David Adom emergency medical service has put central regions on high alert (myself included) as the fire at this time is completely out of control.
Estimates of killed range between 40 and 55 at this time.
All Firefighters in Israel have been put on emergency call up.
The primary areas of concern now are Nir Etzion, Highway 4, Osofiya, and what's left of Beit Oren.
6:00 PM 40 Prison Guards burned to death as bus overturns due to fire.
A massive fire has been raging out of control for hours since 11 AM this morning in Northern Israel in the Carmel region, near Kibbutz Beit Oren.
The Kibbutz has been evacuated, as has been the village of Osafiya and the the Damon prison.
Due to the smoke and fire, a buswhich was evacuating people from the prison overturned and there are unconfirmed reports of 11 fatalities and dozens of seriously wounded.
Magen David Adom, United Hatzala, Police, Fire Departments, and the IDF 669 airborne rescue unit are involved the emergency medical rescue operation.
While Iranian President Ahmadinejadprances around his Lebanese colony threatening Israel and the West, foreign media have reported that a mysterious explosion has killed 18 Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and a fire is now raging in the storage facility of Iran's medium range Shahab-3 ballistic missiles.
(RTTNews) - More than 18 Revolutionary guards were killed and 14 others wounded in an explosion Tuesday at a base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRG) Corps in the Western Iranian province of Lurestan, reported Iran's official news agency IRNA Wednesday.
A Deputy Commander of the Corps said that blast resulted from a fire that spread to a munitions depot at the corps's base in Khoramabad, 300 miles southwest of the capital, Tehran, and close to Iran's restive Kurdistan region.
Police and fire-and-rescue teams were rushed to the IRG base and the injured were taken to a hospital in Khoramabad, the agency said.
The base houses underground launching and storage facilities for Iran's medium-range Shahab-3 ballistic missiles, said research group Global Security.
Lorestan Governor General Hassan Shariatnejad visited the injured persons hospitalized and offered his condolences over the tragic incident. Local officials declared a two-day mourning Wednesday and a funeral was scheduled for Thursday.
Kudos to the pyromaniac responsible for the fire. Update: 1:06 PM Two rockets were fired from Gaza at Ashkelon, resulting in air raid sirens. No reports of injuries, and the rockets apparently landed in open areas causing no damage.
Update: 4:20 PM Police say no rockets hit Israel, despite the eyewitness reports from people who heard 2 loud booms.
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Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
