JERUSALEM (VINnews) – The devastating wildfires spreading rapidly through the hills that surround Jerusalem has elicited responses from multiple agencies, with teams of fire fighters, police officers, and members of Israel Defense Forces joined by several hundred volunteers from United Hatzalah.
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More than 400 United Hatzalah volunteers have responded to the fire as of this writing. In addition to treating over 30 patients for fire-related issues, volunteers have been hard at work lending a hand in other capacities, including evacuating residents of a large nursing home in Beit Meir, located south of Route 1, the main east-west highway connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. United Hatzalah volunteers pre-emptively evacuated multiple Torahs from a Beit Meir synagogue to protect them from the flames, which have yet to reach the area.
Plans are currently underway to evacuate patients, some on ventilators, from several large hospitals that are potentially at risk.
After smelling smoke and hearing someone screaming, one United Hatzalah volunteer managed to successfully chase down and apprehend an arsonist on his ambucycle.
“The terrorist was lighting fields near Yerushalayim, near Har Homa, trying to make a big fire,” United Hatzalah founder and president Eli Beer told VIN News. “Our volunteer jumped on the terrorist and they arrested him.”
Israel’s Route 1 was completely shut down by the approaching flames, with drivers abandoning their vehicles and leaving the area on foot.
Video footage shows multiple United Hatzalah volunteers running down the roadway, searching the abandoned cars and buses for anyone who might not have been able successfully evacuate the area, while also checking a ditch running parallel to the highway for anyone who might have fallen and been injured.
“Is anyone there?” called the masked volunteer as he raced from vehicle to vehicle.
“I don’t even want to say that this reminds me of Route 232 on October 7th,” the volunteer added, alluding to the horrific search of empty cars that yielded multiple dead bodies.
The mass response by United Hatzalah also evoked memories of October 7th for Beer, albeit in a very different way. Beer noted that the agencies volunteers are working around the clock in the fire effort, which is further complicated by dry conditions and high winds.
“We have teams in special command centers on wheel, and a field hospital on wheels,” said Beer. “We are totally ready to deal everything.”
The fact that arsonists have been setting fire to olive trees that are hundreds of years old or more is very telling to Beer.
“If they believe that this is they land, then why are they burning it?” noted Beer. “We are dealing with crazy stuff here.”
At this time, United Hatzalah is urging everyone in Israel to stay away from the highways, to exercise extreme caution when traveling and to avoid hiking, at least for the next few days, until the situation is under control.
That EMT volunteer is another amazing hero!
I was hoping we could have a dedicated Eli Beer™️ fan page
This is because of the gays and the smartphones teshuva now ben gvir !