Facebook Group Created to Provide Emergency Information on Israel
Fire Disaster
By
Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
Haifa,
Israel ---- December 3, 2010 ...... A Facebook group has been
created to provide the latest news, information and emergency
telephone numbers in regard to the Israel fire disaster in the
Carmel Mountains near the city of Haifa.
"We are
witnessing a tragedy," said Joel Leyden, publisher of the
Israel News Agency.
"This
is the worst fire to have ever ravaged Israel. Over 40 people
are now reported dead with many more injured. Israel Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu has declared the fire in the Carmel Mountains
near Haifa as a national disaster."
Hundreds of
thousands of people are now being evacuated from the Greater Haifa
region.
The Facebook
group will serve to show the world's support for Israel at this
time, to provide the latest news, emergency telephone numbers
and information for all to use to contribute either their skills
or make a financial donations for ground and air fire equipment
to protect Israel against future natural disasters.
Emergency
numbers have been provided as follows: Hopital Rambam: 12-55-144,
Hospital Carmel: 12-55-142, Hospital Bnei Zion: 12-55-145, Social
Services : 118, MDA 1-700-700-106.
Israel police
said Friday that they have found a number of "suspicious
articles," leading them to believe that terrorism using arson
as a weapon may have been behind the deadly wildfire raging in
northern Israel - the worst in the nation's history.
Police spokesman
Micky Rosenfeld said "suspicious objects" found in one
of the four centers where the blaze originated Thursday raised
suspicions that the fire, which has killed 41 and injured 17,
was started by arsonists. Rosenfeld did not describe the objects
that were found.
Police in
Israel have arrested two men from an Arab village on suspicion
of arson in an area where a massive wildfire has been raging for
36 hours, Israel Radio reported Friday.
The men were
seen throwing Molotov Cocktails in the forest near the northern
city of Haifa, the report said.
Police suspect they may have also been responsible for new blazes
which broke out north of the main fire on Friday.
District Police
commander Shimon Koren reported several firebomb attacks in the
Haifa district Friday night, Dec. 2, after police backed by an
Air Force drone caught the two arsonists red-handed lobbing firebombs
in several directions in a deserted area of Mt. Carmel. A police
ambush backed by an Air Force drone trapped two men who, after
looking around and seeing they were alone, lobbed firebombs in
several directions. They have not been identified. The officers
arrested them and took them in for questioning.
The fire has
spread to three new sites - Kiryat Bialik, north of Haifa, Shefaram
further inland to the east and Kiryat Tivon southeast of Haifa
and the only one of the three locations actually on Mt. Carmel.
Earlier, near
Kiryat Bialik, Israel police found an abandoned bike and a wig,
apparently abandoned by another arsonist who had disguised himself
with a wig and planned to ignite the local gas pump and start
a fire that would have spread quickly to the factories of heavily-industrialized
Haifa Bay.
A third attempt
to set dense foliage on fire was discovered in near Shefaram.
Had it succeeded, a conflagration on the same scale as the Carmel
disaster could have swept Western Galilee.
However, police
now believe that the worst-ever forest fire in Israel was most
likely caused by negligence and will take at least 24 hours to
bring under control.
US President
Barack Obama has expressed his "deepest condolences"
for the victims of the Carmel fire in Israel and said the US had
offered to help fight it.
The blaze
killed 40 people, most of them prison guards on board a bus that
was trapped in the inferno.
"I want
to begin by offering our deepest condolences to the families,
loved ones, of all of those who died," Obama told some 500
guests during a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony at the White
House.
"As rescuers,
firefighters are continuing their work, the United States is acting
to help our Israel friends in this time of disaster," he
said, adding that the government was looking into what kinds of
aid it could provide.
The Israel
fire service has urgently called up all 1,500 firefighters in
the country, and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made
an urgent appeal for international assistance in containing the
fire.
Humanitarian
offers have poured in, with France and Greece pledging to send
firefighting planes, Cyprus offering a helicopter and another
firefighting aircraft, and Bulgaria reportedly sending 90 firefighters.
The Israel
Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had also received pledges
of help from Romania, Azerbaijan, France, Russia, Croatia and
Turkey.
Offers of
assistance are pouring in and by Friday morning, five Greek aircraft
had landed in Israel, alongside a plane and a police helicopter
from Cyprus, a Bulgarian plane carrying 100 firefighters and a
British chopper, an Israel military spokesman said.
The Israel
foreign ministry said it had also received pledges of help from
Azerbaijan, Croatia, Egypt, France, Jordan, Romania, Russia, Spain
and Turkey.
A Boeing 747
loaded with the fire retardant chemical needed to stop the raging
Carmel forest fires will leave the United States for Israel tonight,
thanks to New York City Mayor Bloomberg, Israel Acting Consul
General Ido Aharoni, members of the FDNY and Tom Harbour, the
Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the US Forestry Service.
Bloomberg
called Israels Acting Consul General in New York Ido Aharoni
Thursday afternoon to convey New York City's strong support for
Israel Thursday afternoon, Bloomberg's spokesperson Stu Loeser
said.
Bloomberg
asked if New York could help Israel with its fires. Bloomberg
mentioned in the call that FDNY Commissioner Sal Cassano had had
a meeting scheduled for Friday with Israel's Deputy Minister of
Defense, Matan Vilnai and two aides. Vilnai is in charge of Homeland
Defense including natural disasters and terrorist/hostile military
events against the civilian population. However, the Friday meeting
had been cancelled due to Vilnai's return to Israel.
According
to the Israel News Agency, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu spoke a short while ago today (Friday), 3.12.10, with
Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and thanked him for
the assistance in the efforts to control the Carmel brushfire.
"We very
much appreciate this mobilization and I am certain that it will
be an opening toward improving relations between our two countries,
Turkey and Israel." Prime Minister Netanyahu noted that his
Turkish counterpart had expressed his willingness to help and
Turkey's condolences, as well as his personal condolences, to
the families of the casualties.
According
to the Israel Prime Minister's Office, upon the outbreak of the
blaze in the Carmel forests, all Israel Government ministries
were mobilized to offer assistance to area residents and deal
with the disaster.
The Israel
Public Security Ministry instructed the Israel Police to coordinate
efforts in the area of the fire. Fire and Rescue Service Commissioner
Shimon Romach ordered that the entire Service be mobilized in
order to fight the fire.
The Israel
Health Ministry contacted area hospitals and raised their level
of alert so as to prepare them to receive the injured, whom MDA
is treating.
The Israel
Interior Ministry has allocated a special budget to the local
councils in the area in order to assist them in receiving evacuees.
The Israel
Social Welfare and Social Services Ministry has opened a situation
room in order to coordinate meeting the evacuees' needs. It is
also mobilizing social workers from other districts in order to
assist the local councils' welfare departments and in identifying
the victims at the Institute for Legal Medicine at Abu Kabir.
The Israel
Defense Ministry is engaged in purchasing fire extinguishing materials
from abroad and bringing them to Israel.
The Israel
Foreign Ministry is coordinating the arrival of forces and emergency
equipment from abroad.
The Israel
Housing and Construction Ministry has allocated resources in order
to assist the evacuees.
The Israel
Water Authority and Israel Electric Corp. personnel are working
to quickly repair infrastructures in order to assist the firefighting
efforts and restore residents' fabric of life.
And the Israel
Finance Ministry has instructed the tax authorities to hasten
the preparation of damage estimates.
Jewish and
voluntary organizations around the world are cooperating with
the Government in order to render assistance.
"Israel
has endured a very severe drought and hot weather, leaving the
precious trees and bush extremely dry," said Leyden, who
maintains a digital PR, SEO and social media business in both
Israel and New York.
"We cherish
every drop of rain in Israel and respect every tree and plant."
Leyden states
that Israel has entered into the Hanukkah holiday where children
light candles of light to celebrate an ancient Jewish victory
over the Maccabees. This Festival of Lights is an eight-day Jewish
holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the
Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt
of the 2nd century BCE.
"We have
lost over 40 people to this fire. The candles that we normally
burn for Chanukah celebration have become memorial candles for
our dead. We pray for their families and thank the many nations
which have offered Israel humanitarian assistance."