ZAKA establishes ATV unit to fight fires in the North

All-terrain vehicles will make possible easy access to and mobility on hilly terrain.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
All Terrain Vehicle 311 (photo credit: ZAKA)
All Terrain Vehicle 311
(photo credit: ZAKA)
A unit of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) that will assist in firefighting was launched Tuesday night by the ZAKA rescue and recovery organization in memory of the 44 victims of the Carmel Forest fire a month ago.
The voluntary organization headed by Yehuda Meshi- Zahav held a memorial ceremony, where the group announced the arrival of three fully-equipped ZAKA Firefighting ATVs, which were donated by the chairman of ZAKA International’s board of directors, Michael Mirilashvili, and Dr. Alexander Machkevitch, president of the Euro- Asian Jewish Congress.
The vehicles will make possible easy access to and mobility on hilly terrain, as well as the opportunity to swiftly deal with the beginnings of a fire before it begins to spread.
The establishment of the ZAKA Firefighting ATV Unit was one of the lessons learned from the recent fire. The new unit, which will make regular inspection tours of the Carmel Forest region and the North, will fully cooperate with Fire Service on the basis of volunteering or National Service.
The ATVs carry special 50- liter-pulse water guns that fire a liter of water at a speed of 430 kilometers per hour – an effect 10 times greater than conventional methods of dousing fires. Even with the first pulse of water, the temperature of the fire is reduced by half, thereby allowing the first responders to reach the injured to administer first aid from the supplies carried on the ATV.
Participating in the memorial ceremony on Mount Carmel included Science and Technology Minister Daniel Herschkowitz, Interior Minister Eli Yishai, Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, bereaved families, police and fire officers, and ZAKA volunteers and commanders.
Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger said that “unlike others after the fire, ZAKA did not join the call for investigations and inquiries. Instead, they did what they do best – getting on with saving more lives, finding ways to help the people of Israel even more efficiently.
May these ATVs be used for nothing more than women in childbirth!”