He Macroincendio declared on Wednesday In the mountains near Jerusalemwhich forced the evacuation of 8,000 people and caused injuries to 40 civilians and firefighters, “has been declared under control “as reported on Thursday the Israeli firefighters service in a statement.
“After an intense work of all forces in the countryside, the great fire that broke out in the hills of Jerusalem was declared under control,” explains the note, adding that they will now begin to gradually release the forces of the area. The Fire Department adds that “A thorough investigation of the incident will be carried out, as required for events of this type”.
The macroincendio, which has left at least 2,000 burned hectares -1.300 of them forest-, originated on Wednesday at 10 am (7.00 GMT) in the Mateh Yehuda area, Among the little villages of Mesilat Zion and Neve Shalomabout 30 kilometers west of Jerusalem, according to police information.
Neve Shalom was the first evacuated town, on an extreme weather day with heat, environmental dryness and orange alert by strong wind with gusts between 90 and 100 kilometers per hour that blow from west to east (towards Jerusalem). The fire was about 14 kilometers from the holy city.
The reasons why it occurred are still unknown and, although the police reported in the afternoon of a detainee “With a lighter” who tried to turn on a fire in the south of Jerusalem, it has not been clarified if it has to do with the fires that occurred tens of kilometers from there.
Because of the flames, The highway was blocked that joins Jerusalem with Tel Aviv (Route 1), in which dozens of people had to leave their vehicles and flee. This Thursday morning, the Police announced the reopening of the highway and other roads and The evacuees were able to return to their homeswhich according to firefighters were not affected.
Israel asked International help To extinguish fires and five countries – Spain, France, Romania, Croatia, Italy and Ukraine – they said they would send planes for it. Finally, a chipre helicopter arrived in Israel, firefighters reported.
