Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys watch from an opposite hill as a fire plane drops red fire retardant to try to extinguish fires burning in the forest below Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, seen in background, in Jerusalem Sunday, July 17, 2011. An out of control wildfire has forced the evacuation of Israel's Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Jerusalem - A wildfire tore through a forest on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Sunday, moving within several hundred yards (meters) of Israel’s national Holocaust memorial and sending a huge plume of smoke billowing over parts of the holy city.
Fire service spokesman Boaz Rakia said the memorial, Yad Vashem, was not in any danger. Fire officials said they were making progress but the blaze was not under control by Sunday evening. They did not know what caused it, although weather in the area has been hot and dry.
Estee Yaari, a spokeswoman for Yad Vashem, said the 45-acre (18 hectare) campus was evacuated as the blaze approached. Police said the fire was a few hundred yards (meters) from the memorial.
“Everybody was evacuated calmly,” Yaari said. “There was a lot of smoke on campus.”
Two people required medical treatment, she added.
Yad Vashem is one of Israel’s national treasures, home to a museum and memorials for the victims of the Holocaust. Foreign dignitaries routinely stop at Yad Vashem when visiting the country.
The memorial holds some 140 million pages of Holocaust documentation, the world’s largest such collection. It also exhibits artifacts, such as shoes, photographs, suitcases and recorded testimonies of Holocaust victims and survivors.
It also has an eternal flame in its “Hall of Remembrance,” as well as the “Hall of Names,” where it is collecting the identities of the 6 million Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis and their sympathizers during World War II.
The fire broke out Sunday in the Jerusalem Forest, a patch of hilly terrain covered by pine trees on the western edge of the city.
The blaze brought back memories of a devastating fire that killed 42 people last December in a forest in northern Israel. Most of the victims were prison guards who were helping in the rescue efforts. Their bus was engulfed in flames, killing them.
That fire burned out of control for four days and was extinguished only after firefighting aircraft from as far away as the U.S. came in to bring it under control.
After that disaster, Israel overhauled its firefighting service and bought firefighting aircraft. Some of them could be seen circling over the Jerusalem fire.
SOURCE: http://www.vosizneias.com/87640/2011/07/17/jerusalem-fire-forces-evacuation-of-israels-yad-vashem
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NOTE:
Arson is a Strong Possibility in Jerusalem Fire
National Fire Chief Shachar Ayalon said Sunday afternoon, that the fire raging in the Jerusalem Forest broke out in four places.
Multiple ignition sites are usually an indication of arson, although there have been no preliminary reports from investigators.
One of the major concerns is that the fire could reach Jerusalem’s Pi Glilot, a fuel storage area near Har Nof. Ayalon said that one container at Pi Glilot contains liquid fuel and others are empty but contain fumes.
In addition to crews from Jerusalem and points in the immediate vicinity, fire fighters were also brought in from Ramle and Tel Aviv. Israel’s airborne fire fighting squadron has been fighting the blaze along with the ground based fire fighting forces.
Photos are by Hillel Maeir
