MARKETPLACE SHLOMO MAITAL THE BEST OF TIMES, THE WORST OF TIMES Huge forest fires that left hundreds homeless and caused over a billion shekels in damages highlighted the ability of Israelis to rally in times of adversity, but also fanned sectarian tensions and raised questions about disaster preparations 30 THE JERUSALEM REPORT DECEMBER 26, 2016 JACK GUEZ / AFP AFP / GUEZ JACK THE JERUSALEM REPORT DECEMBERA firefighting26, 2016 plane in action over Haifa, November 2431 MARKETPLACE t was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolish- ness.” “IThese are the opening words of Charles Dickens’ 1859 novel, “A Tale of Two Cit- ies,” about tumultuous London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. Dickens’ words also describe the people of Israel and its leadership during and after the disastrous series of fires that began No- vember 22 and burned for almost a week. The most serious damage occurred in Haifa, where the fires forced 75,000 resi- dents to be evacuated from their homes and damaged 175 buildings; 100 buildings were destroyed and 500 people left homeless. It was the biggest such fire since the Mount Carmel forest fire in 2010 that killed 44. In that fire, a Prison Service bus was trapped and burned, killing many cadets, as well as three senior police officers. The fire itself was caused by negligence – a teenage resi- dent of Isfiya, a Druse town, told police he inadvertently started the fire with a hookah ember. After the Carmel fire, there was a “Fire caused by arson or incitement to ar- aircraft, equipment and firefighters. And, ac- wave of arson throughout Israel and the West son is terrorism,” Netanyahu said. The Hai- cording to The Jerusalem Post, 40 veteran US Bank. All these fires were put out quickly. fa fires seem to have begun simultaneously firefighters “refused to watch the tragedy un- In times of crisis, we see the very best of in at least four locations, lending credence fold from afar” and boarded planes, traveled ourselves and, at the same time, the very to the suspicion. up to 20 hours and fought the fires alongside worst. We see much wisdom and much their Israeli brothers. They were part of the foolishness. We agreed that those Emergency Volunteer Project, launched by Israel seven years ago to train and work with Worst of Times: The total damage caused who gloat over human US firefighters during emergencies. by more than 600 fires throughout Israel “If there is anything I can do to help Is- is estimated at 1 billion shekels, half of it suffering of any kind rael and my fellow firefighters,” said Ben in Haifa. Nearly 5,000 acres of forest and are beneath contempt Arnold, a Los Angeles firefighter, “I am brush land were burned. Mercifully, there willing and love to do it.” was no loss of life, though more than 100 Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud people were taken to hospitals suffering It is known that Arab villages, too, suf- Abbas sent firetrucks and crews to help bat- from smoke inhalation. fered fires, including Daliat al-Carmel, tle the blaze. They were active in Haifa, in The series of fires came after a two-month Ka’abiyye, Iksal, Kabul and Tamra. the West Bank settlement of Halamish, and drought, followed by high temperatures, I received an email from a student in especially at the fire in Nataf, a small com- near-zero humidity and fierce winds that Egypt who took some of my online entre- munity in the Jerusalem hills. Netanyahu left underbrush and fallen leaves tinder dry. preneurship courses. He stated his disgust called to thank him. Israeli police have ap- Wind-blown sparks fanned by gale winds over numerous gleeful posts on Arab social prehended a suspect from an Arab village, leaped hundreds of meters to start new fires. media, trumpeting “Israel is Burning!” We Kattana, bordering Nataf, who is suspected Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told agreed that those who gloat over human of throwing a gasoline-filled bottle over the Army Radio that “almost half the fires were suffering of any kind are beneath contempt. security fence and starting the blaze. the result of arson” long before fire inves- Israelis rallied to support the exhausted tigators had completed their investigation. Best of Times: Israel’s neighbors rallied to firefighters, who raced from fire to fire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and send help. Eleven countries – Cyprus, Rus- mostly without sleep, for a week or more. Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh made sia, Croatia, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Many volunteers helped evacuate the elder- similar claims. Egypt, Azerbaijan, France and Ukraine – sent ly, rescue family pets and bring food and 32 THE JERUSALEM REPORT DECEMBER 26, 2016 AMIR COHEN / REUTERS REUTERS / COHEN AMIR ing around the clock. ter on a fire, or 25 times that of each of the But Amir Oren, writing in the daily 14 smaller planes in Israel’s airborne squad- Haaretz, cited airborne firefighting experts ron. The supertanker soaked the forests who cast doubt on the effectiveness of these surrounding Nataf to prevent the fire from planes. They noted that before the squadron recurring. Watching this huge plane swoop existed, Israel used crop-spraying planes. low over the trees and dump its vast tonnage “With the establishment of the new squad- of water was quite amazing. I’m certain the ron,” said the expert, “spray-plane pilots bill for its services was as huge as the plane were taken off their supplementary job of itself. firefighting. Their small and nimble planes Predictably, even while the fires raged, with their diving and climbing abilities al- opposition politicians called for a parlia- lowed the dispersal of fire retardants much mentary inquiry into the debacle. This closer to the target, allowing them to attack violates the most important principle of fires that larger planes could not tackle.” debriefing (the process of dissecting an event and drawing conclusions): Seek in- How should we prepare sights and lessons learned rather than as- sign blame. No debrief can be effective if for an earthquake? participants are trying to evade blame and For another series of conceal the truth. fires? For massive rocket Wisdom: The disastrous fires point to at least two conclusions related to Israel’s attacks in a future war? lovely forests that resulted from the debrief. First, pine forests. Over the years, the Jewish National Fund planted more than A firefighter douses flames outside Haifa; “In the past,” continued the expert, “hous- 240 million trees all over Israel, providing the fires destroyed some 5,000 acres of es didn’t burn because spray planes came “luscious belts of green covering more than woodland down low, nipping the fires in the bud. It’s 250,000 acres.” For this we applaud them. not the amount of water or retardant that’s But, those luscious belts of green are drink to the firefighters. important, but the accuracy of hitting the mostly pine forests and they are particularly Firefighters, police, the IDF, emergency right spots. Aerial firefighting used to cost flammable, as we saw in Haifa, Nataf and medical squads, Home Front officers and 5 million shekels a year ($1.25m.), without elsewhere. Today, the JNF is planting other soldiers all worked together in close harmo- the price of retardants. Now, with 14 desig- types of trees and is thinning out existing ny, having prepared through numerous sim- nated planes, the costs are 10 times higher pine groves. ulated exercises. On-site command posts and houses are burning.” Second, firebreaks. When you drive were set up quickly, and helicopters and Each of these 14 small planes carries through US forests, everywhere, you see drones gave fire crews a bird’s-eye view. 3,000 liters of chemicals. After dumping fire breaks – swaths of cleared land designed The Haifa residents ordered to evacuate did their load on the fire, they need to land to to keep wildfires from spreading. Some so quickly and willingly, despite the im- reload. Much larger planes from Russia, fire breaks were put in place after the 2010 mense traffic jams; senior citizens were tak- Greece and Turkey proved able to skim the Mount Carmel fire, but not nearly enough. en from their homes for the elderly to Haifa ocean just offshore and load up with water They may not have helped much in the 60- Auditorium, where they were cared for by ‒ 6,000 liters worth ‒ returning to dump it mph winds that fanned the latest blazes, as volunteers and youth. Many offered to put on the Haifa fires within five minutes. They burning branches were blown for long dis- up those who were made homeless. By Sat- proved very effective. tances, but more firebreaks are needed and urday night, November 26, most residents Netanyahu has proposed establishing a more should have been in place long ago. were able to return to their homes, except, multi-nation airborne firefighting squadron. Technion Prof. Yohay Carmel notes that of course, for those who now had none. This makes a lot of sense. What a single climate change is causing “things we hav- country cannot afford, a dozen countries en’t seen before. In the 2010 [Mount Car- Foolishness: Netanyahu is quick to take can. The planes could quickly fly from one mel fire], there was no significant rainfall credit for establishing Israel’s 14-plane fire- country to another when needed. until early December so the vegetation had fighting squadron after the Mount Carmel After the fires were extinguished, the endured nine months of aridity.” Now, six fire.