Some 24 firefighting teams and six firefighting planes reported that they were battling a large, wind-driven fire near Hadassah-University Medical Center, in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem on Monday.
Teams from the Jerusalem, Dan and central divisions and the Israel Fire and Rescue Service's special Lehava unit are working to stop the fire from spreading to public buildings located nearby.
שריפה פרצה סמוך לשכונת עין כרם בירושלים. שמונה צוותי כיבוי ומטוסי כיבוי הוזעקו למקום. כוחות הכיבוי והמשטרה נערכים לפינוי הכפר השבדי ובתי ספר סמוכים@VeredPelman (צילום: ציונה אברגילי) pic.twitter.com/7ZltBEKfzu
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 3, 2020
Strengthening winds in the area have caused the fire to intensify. Firefighters have set up lines of defense to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby homes, schools and clinics.
About 200 special needs students from a school in the Swedish Village, located near Ein Kerem, were evacuated due to the heavy smoke.
There was no immediate danger to buildings or homes as of Monday afternoon. If that changes, Israel Police and Israel Fire and Rescue Services are prepared to evacuate residents.
"We are working at the moment on a developed fire in Ein Kerem, a fire that is moving quickly due to strong northwesterly winds," said Commander of the Jerusalem District Fire and Rescue Services, Nissim Twito. "We launched dozens of firefighting and rescue teams and with the help of the Elad aerial firefighting squadron we are fighting the flames and trying to prevent the fire from breaking through our lines of defense and reaching the houses and public buildings in the neighborhood."
Twito called on the public to be careful and not light any fires in open areas. "In these days, even a small spark can turn into a giant fire capable of severely impacting nature, property and even lives."