Giant fire in Israel - International aid helping combat the blaze.

[silveradept]

A massive forest fire in Israel is being fought with assistance from the international community.

"HAIFA, Israel – Foreign firefighters and aircraft poured into Israel Friday in an unprecedented wave of international assistance as the country battled a huge forest fire that has killed at least 41 people and displaced thousands....

...Some 100 firefighters from Bulgaria arrived as well as fire extinguishing planes and crews from Greece and Britain, Israeli officials said. More aid was on its way from the United States, Russia, Egypt, Cyprus, Jordan, Spain, Azerbaijan, Romania and Turkey — which put aside tensions over Israel's deadly raid on a Turkish Gaza-bound flotilla in May to lend a hand."

(Fox News reporting.)

Big fire. Really big fire. Hopefully under control and put out by now.

Comments

[brewsternorth]

Seems to've dropped off the news-cycle in favour of Assange's arrest; last headline I could dredge out of Google News was a UPI newswire claiming that a 14-year-old boy had been the one to start the fire by throwing out a bit of charcoal into some dry grass.

Hope it *is* out; that part of the world has had a lot of tinder-dry weather.

[the_future_modernes]

Thanks for that. I really hope they get it under control.

[eumelia]

It was finally put out on Sunday. It rained on Monday so the chances of it starting again are slim.

Politically speaking (and the discourse in Israel) is with regards to the fact that the public sector is underfunded due to a massive reduction in taxes allocated to the fire department, health care, etc. That's why the fire was out of control.

The fact that we got international aid is really not the point. Seeing as Israel sends aid to practically every large scale disaster it would be bad form (to say the least) were we not to get aid in return.

[silveradept]

Well, it is Fox. They do tend to miss the point routinely. Have you got another source we could put up that will correct the trajectory of their story?