Fires Are Finally Out, But Tallies Are Devastating
“For a fire is kindled in My nostril, and burneth unto the depths of the nether-world, and devoureth the earth with her produce, and setteth ablaze the foundations of the mountains.” Deuteronomy 32:22 (The Israel Bible™)
The blazing brush fires which consumed Israel in the past week have finally been quenched, but the damage done is staggering, officials say. While Israel downgraded its state of emergency and sent most of its firefighters back to regular duty on Monday, it could take upwards of 30 years for the country to fully recover.
Between November 18 and November 25, firefighters faced 1,773 fires around the country, said Fire Services spokesman Yoram Levy on Monday. Of those, 39 were declared major, requiring ten or more firefighting teams.
Over 32,000 acres of land, both forest and urban, are estimated to have been destroyed by fires in Haifa, Zichron Ya’acov, Neveh Shalom, Modi’in, Neveh Ilan, Nataf, and other areas. The total amount of damage is 30 percent more than during 2010, when a massive fire in the Carmel mountains decimated five million trees.
