Hundreds of residents were evacuated today (Sunday) from the Yaffa Nof neighborhood, near the Maalot-Tarshiha forest, following a fire that raged in the north of the country.
Six firefighting planes and 15 crews of firefighters worked to put out the flames until the fire was brought under control and the residents returned to their homes.
A nursery and one vehicle parked near the forest caught fire and several businesses in the city were damaged.
Meanwhile, another large fire broke out in the Shoham Forest area.
Firefighters and crews of firefighters were called to contain the flames.
A senior fire and rescue officer said that the weather conditions in recent days are not far from the conditions that prevailed during the Carmel disaster.
Firefighters work to put out a fire that broke out in the Shoham Forest // Photo: Neta Mizrahi - Public absorption in the JNF forests, Amir Hermes - JNF employee
"The meteorology is similar to the Carmel fire event. Not the same intensity, but has the same conditions. Therefore any getz can turn into a catastrophe. It is similar to the Carmel but at a lesser intensity," the senior officer said.
"There is a false theory that says hot days cause fires," explained the senior in the formation.
"Honestly, during the hot periods there is a dramatic decrease in woodland fires. Most fires break out in the fall or spring because during these periods the vegetation is very dry, the winds are strong and the humidity is very low. The heat is not a factor. During this period, all fire needs is the "These conditions. A dry day like this - it's like pouring gasoline on all the forests and throwing a match."
"Hard to control fires"
The senior officer added that "because there are easterly winds coming from the deserts, every little getz spreads quickly. All year round there are fires, there are arsons and hikers leave fire. It usually develops into something small, and we take over quickly. When such winds are strong and humidity low, fires These get out of control very quickly and escape us much faster.It's hard for us to control it.
The fire in the Yaffa Nof neighborhood near the forest, Photo: Israel Fire and Rescue Spokeswoman
"We are under the command of a red torch," the officer says.
"Half of us are on duty and half on standby. There is a squadron that carries out patrols, and if a fire is detected - it is attacked immediately. There are also skimmers that work to detect fires. Even in the smallest incident, four times and five times more forces go out. "Because of our deployment, we are quickly taking control of these fires."
Meanwhile, the cloudy and dry weather is expected to continue.
The winds will weaken today, and there will be a slight rise in temperatures in the mountains and inland.
In the northern valleys, the coastal plain, the lowlands and the Negev, only light heat loads are expected.
On the other hand, in the Arava, the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley, a light to medium heat load is expected.
Only on Friday is a slight cooling expected.