It is not clear at this stage if the fire storm raging in the Carmel Mountains in Israel was deliberately set as an act of terrorism or not.
What is clear is that Israel is unequipped and at the moment unable to stop the raging inferno.
The spokesperson of the Fire and Rescue Services sounded almost desperate when he was interviewed earlier.
One of the first headlines today: Forty cadets of the prison service were trapped in a bus and burned alive. The bodies are being identified and taken away for burial tomorrow.
The Prime Minister has been directing all elements at his disposal: The IDF has been actively involved as are the Ministry of Internal Security (overseeing all police activities), hospitals and paramedics (MDA), and the Foreign Ministry has been coordinating international aid efforts.
Local municipalities have been setting and activating emergency operations centers, getting ready for possible evacuation orders.
The President has already issued a statement and expressed a prayer for the safety of the fire fighters and the speedy control of the fire.
Another mass prayer was conducted at the Western Wall in Jerusalem with the Chief Rabbis participating.
Israel, always the first to offer and send aid, is now in need of help. We all remember vividly that of all the powers of the world, Israel, thousands of miles away, was the first to establish a fully operational field hospital in Haiti.
The situation in Israel is so dire that the Prime Minister has called Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Russia with requests for help.
There are currently fire fighters, helicopters and fire suppressing equipment and materials en route from Cyprus, Croatia and Bulgaria. In a few hours more will be dispatched from Spain, France and Azerbaijan, Jordan and Egypt. Even Turkey that owes plenty to Israel, but has recently been against everything and anything Israel is sending two helicopters.
Country after country are standing up to aid Israel.
Now comes the real litmus test, now true friends are discovered.
Israel, always ready to help and extend a hand, finds herself facing a disaster of a magnitude unprecedented, one the Prime Minister called “on international scale.”
Tragedy in Israel brings out the best in people. The country unites. People open their homes and immediately work as one to welcome evacuees and those who will have to evacuate their homes and businesses in the coming hours.
The Municipality just down the mountains, at the Mediterranean shores, has accepted thousands, while the Council of Judea and Samaria has opened its homes, crowded already by a construction freeze, and welcomed evacuees for unlimited stay.
Work stopped. People are glued to reports on TV, the radio and via the Internet. Everyone is eager to help. A disaster bringing out the good elements in people.
This is the second night of Hanukah, a holiday in which every night for eight nights we light another candle. It is a holiday in which we sing and celebrate light overcoming darkness. Yet, in our worst dreams we could not have envisioned this type of inferno.
Our songs have stopped, the magnitude of the events is overwhelming.
Many questions will be asked in the coming days: Why did it take so long from the first report to prevent the spread of the fire? Why is Israel so ill equipped to deal with such a disaster, and yet is the first to help much greater disasters elsewhere? There will be much soul-searching. Also, there will be much fund-raising, each organization claiming ownership of the fire and their role and asking for donations. [The stream has begun already, if only it could be used to spray water over the vast mountainous areas of the raging fire.]
Israel will also have to deal with the “day-after,” but she is well equipped for that. Having undergone the Intifadas (military-terrorist uprisings) against her, Israel learned how to bring life back on track within hours of a devastating event. And yet, this is like no other.
I talked with Firefighter Asaf Abras, an officer, who is at the moment at the main command and control center.
400 firefighters are in the field with approximately 100 engines. A typical engine holds 3,000 – 5,000 liters of water. At the rate the water is used, it is equivalent to twenty minutes of fighting. Then, they need to retreat to refill.
From a location of a fire engine, they need to extend lines to 200 to 300 meters. They are over-extended.
I remember the firestorms here in Los Angeles. People used the water in their back-yard pools to wet the houses. In the villages and small cities in the Carmel Mountains, there are no pools, other than possibly one public pool per region.
During the first few hours, “of their own accord, good people came and brought the firefighters food and drinks.” I was surprised: “Are you not trained to provide logistical support to the fighting forces,” I asked. Asaf replied: “This is worse than war.”
“This is worse than war,” said Firefighter Asaf Abras who has responded to all but one terrorist attack in Jerusalem throughout the Intifada.
“This is worse than war,” said Asaf who had to evacuate burned bodies from charred tanks during the Second War in Lebanon.
The helicopters now on the way will provide Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services better control from the air and the ability to deliver large quantities of water in short periods of time to the centers of the fire.
Asaf concluded by telling me he is in full gear, ready for a rotation. He with others will soon be on their way to the north to the front line, to battle the fire. There is no sleep tonight, possibly none for the next couple of days.
I remember another interview we held with the Fire and Rescue Services Commissioner during the Second War in Lebanon. Now it is Israel alone against the forces of nature, and they are angry, unstoppable.
We are taught in Judaism that there are reasons for God’s actions. This inferno has already claimed numerous lives, and Israel has been caught unprepared, unequipped, and has not provided the swift and immediate response required.
Imagine a barrage of missiles falling on Israel, from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, all at once. Missiles whose accuracy is greater than ever before, thus the number of dead and injured will be overwhelming.
Missiles cause fires, which spread quickly in urban areas. Missiles are capable of having chemical or other warheads that will explode in civilian centers.
Israel will have to deal with this eventual scenario, possibly earlier than one might imagine. The Carmel Mountains Inferno will undoubtedly escalate the preparations. There is no more room for mistakes or delays. The price in human life has already been paid.
May everyone fighting the fire, on all fronts and in so many ways, be successful in their efforts.
May the fire be contained, and in the meantime may there be no further injuries or deaths.
May soon the only fires be those of the candles lit by millions of Jews the world over now with new meaning in support of Israel.
Israel will overcome, learn and improve. At the moment, Israel needs our prayers and support from the entire world community.
