ISRAEL’S 2010 WILDFIRE REVEALS LACK OF PREPARATION, WHILE HIGHLIGHTING BENEFITS OF INTERNATIONAL...
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Transcript of ISRAEL’S 2010 WILDFIRE REVEALS LACK OF PREPARATION, WHILE HIGHLIGHTING BENEFITS OF INTERNATIONAL...
ISRAEL’S 2010 WILDFIRE REVEALS LACK OF PREPARATION,
WHILE HIGHLIGHTING BENEFITS OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
DECEMBER 1-8, 2010
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of
North Carolina, USA
Israel’s summer of 2010 had been one of the hottest and driest on
record, creating conditions that are favorable for wildfires.
The cause: A 14-year-old-boy says he had been smoking, using a
hookah pipe, in a forest, and the fire got out of control within munutes..
ISRAEL’S WORST WILDFIRE IN HISTORY FINDS ISRAEL UNPREPARED
The emergency showed that Israel had neglected to invest in the equipment and personnel needed to effectively combat wildfires that have become pervasive in recent years amid unseasonably high temperatures and periods of drought
The flames, fanned by high winds, were like a giant wave at
sea, traveling at times with leaps of 500 meters.
After only two days, the fire killed 42 people and consumed more than 7,000 acres, destroying a large part of the Carmel Forest, one of Israel's natural crown jewels and a popular
tourist and vacation destination that is known as “Little Switzerland”
because of its beauty. .
The fire, exacerbated by high winds, was too demanding for Israel’s 1,500 firefighters to contain, so
Israel issued a rare call for HELP.
Thirteen nations of the international community
responded immediately with material assets and pledges
of help