Damage to woodland is so severe it will take nature 20 years to recover; jackals, snakes and tortoises were all trapped in the flames and perished.

What has been dubbed as “the biggest fire since the Carmel disaster” left 1,500-2,000 dunams of natural woodland, forest, vegetation and uncultivated land in the Beit Shemesh area scorched, and it will take nature 20 years to recover.

Hundreds of firefighters from the Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem area, along with teams from KKL-JNF and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, battled the blaze throughout the entire day Friday and were able to gain control of the fire only late at night. Many teams still remain in the area, working to put out smaller fires and to to stop the spread of the fire in case it regains power.

Photo: Gil Yohanan
Photo: Gil Yohanan

 

“There was a tremendous effort,” said Kobi Tobol, the commander of the Beit Shemesh-Jerusalem District Fire Department. “70 fire trucks with the help of other authorities, among them the police which worked to evacuate communities and civilians. Everyone worked throughout the entire day and managed to stop the fire from reaching residential areas. Despite that, in such a big fire, the damage to nature and to the animals is massive, and will require many years of rehabilitation.”

Photo: Gil Yohanan
Photo: Gil Yohanan

 

“This is a very large fire in Hanasi Forest and in Eshtaol Forest. These are very old forests, planted in the 50s and 60s. Beyond that, resting stops and trails were also damaged,” said the head of the coastal area and the Shfela Plains in KKL-JNF, Gilad Mastai.

Photo: Beit Shemesh Fire and Rescue Services
Photo: Beit Shemesh Fire and Rescue Services

 

Mastai went on to say that “this fire burned grown and large trees, in addition to the destruction of the undergrowth of thicket growing under the pine trees. There are jackals, snakes and tortoises in the area that were burned and trapped in the fire. This is dozens of years of damage. A unique vacation spot was taken from the people of Israel. It would take 20 years for the forest to return to what it was, but people can return to the forest in the coming year and see how it rehabilitates itself.”

Mastai said there was a suspicion that a careless burning of pruning in a nearby moshav caused the fire: “As a result of the topography and the extreme weather conditions, the fire climbed up the hills and treetops and destroyed hundreds of dunams.”

As reported by Ynetnews