American allies

The Emergency Volunteer Project is a group of American firefighters from Rockland County in New York who decided to help put out the fire.

By DAVID SHAMAH
american firefighters_521 (photo credit: Courtesy)
american firefighters_521
(photo credit: Courtesy)
International aid helped put a relatively quick end to the devastating Carmel Forest fire; instead of raging for weeks, the blaze was effectively put out by Sunday night. Despite our political differences, even Turkey and the Palestinian Authority pitched in to help.
And so did a team from the US. The Emergency Volunteer Project (EVP), formed during the Second Lebanon War, was a group of American firefighters from Rockland County in New York who decided to help out.
“We saw there was a major emergency and that Israeli firefighters were getting overwhelmed, so we organized a trip for some of our firefighters to go and help out,” said Rockland firefighter Shlomo Pomeranz.
Formalizing the volunteer program, Israeli rescue activists organized the EVP, which today conducts programs in the US, training American firefighters in Israeli fire-fighting methods, preparing them to start working as soon as they get off the plane.
“During a conflict or emergency situation, the Fire and Rescue Services activate all emergency personnel,” says Adi Zehavi, international director of EVP. “The problem is that the number of fire and rescue incidents is more than three times greater in a conflict situation. This huge increase in their workload means that fire and rescue teams take much longer to provide the lifesaving help that is so desperately needed.”
In response, EVP has trained dozens of American volunteer firefighters, mostly from New York, New Jersey and Texas, in the “Israeli method” of battling blazes, says Zehavi. “In the US, fire-fighting crews are made up of 10 to 15 firefighters, and you have backup. In Israel, crews are much smaller and have no backup.”
Volunteers take a six-day training course, both at local fire facilities and in Israel, and learn about the structure of the country’s rescue services, emergency protocols, differences in equipment – and about the threats the country faces, from terrorism to war to potential natural disasters. “Participants get an inside look at Israeli society, including its culture, people, and history,” says Zehavi. “And we find that many of the firefighters who train with us end up becoming enthusiastic supporters of Israel, even if they had never given the Middle East much thought before.”
As soon as news of the Carmel fire spread, volunteers began lining up to help. “On Thursday night, we had over 40 firefighters who were ready to leave within 24 hours.”
As it turned out, there was no need for them to come, as the blaze was pretty much out by Sunday night.
But, Zehavi says, the event proved that the EVP’s model works. “We take care of all expenses and details, from plane tickets to insurance to accommodations, and we had already made arrangements for the crews to come this week..”
Most surprising, perhaps, has been the response of firefighters, who you would think would just want to go home to their families after fighting their own battles, without volunteering for extracurricular activities. And it’s not just Jewish firefighters; there’s a healthy component of non-Jewish firefighters who are happy to help out their fellow firefighters, wherever they may be.
One of EVP’s volunteers, Scott Schulte, said that while the purpose of the program was to help Israel, he and other firefighters in the program had benefited as well. “We learned a lot about emergency procedures and picked up some good rescue techniques, which we have used in our own departments,” he says. “The EVP training experience was fantastic, and we loved getting to know the Israeli firefighters. We made some great friends, and I consider the firefighters I worked with to be not only fellow firefighters but also extended family.”
Schulte, who is not Jewish, said he didn’t think twice about volunteering. “Israel is a small country which I respect, as all its citizens are on the front lines. But as Americans, we have a strong cultural bond with Israel. Israel and the US are as close as any two countries can be, and it’s important to emphasize that bond in any way possible. For me, EVP was a very personal experience, on many levels.”
Zehavi has a long background in emergency services, heading response efforts in many of Israel’s recent terrorist attacks and mass casualty events. Among the other EVP rescue professionals are Dr. Dagan Schwartz, head of the Emergency Department at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, which has the only Level 1 trauma center in the North; top police official Gil Kleiman, a veteran of the force who has worked at the scene of many terror attacks; and retired NYPD detective Mordechai Dzikansky, who was the first NYPD Intelligence Division overseas liaison to the Israel Police.
It’s a strong team, and one – along with the volunteers they train – that Israelis may find themselves relying on in the future. We hope we won’t have to, but it’s nice to know that EVP and its volunteers are there.