The Public Security Ministry unveiled a new hi-tech firefighting system on
Thursday that is capable of using sensors to project the future direction and
intensity of a blaze.
“It is an incredible model, and the first of its
kind in the world,” a source from the ministry told
The Jerusalem
Post.The computer-based system calculates factors such as the weather,
topography, temperature and wind direction to create a three-dimensional view of
the fire and its future progress on a screen.
It was developed by the
Public Security Ministry’s Policy and Strategic Development branch on behalf of
the Fire and Rescue Service, and is part of a wider effort to ensure emergency
services are able to cope with large fires following December’s Carmel disaster,
in which 44 people died.
The new system will allow fire chiefs to receive
an overall estimate of the fire they are facing in real time, and assist in the
decision to evacuate populated areas, as well as where to mobilize fire
crews.
According to the ministry, Israel experiences about 1,000 fires a
year, with 70 percent of them occurring from May to September.
Earlier
this year, the Fire and Rescue Service was placed under the auspices of the
Public Security Ministry, which is also responsible for Israel Police.