Posted on 05/01/25
| News Source: Times of Israel
Over 100 teams of firefighters continued to battle fires in the hills west of Jerusalem for a second day Thursday, but appeared to make gains in containing the blazes overnight, with firefighting planes from European allies expected to arrive later in the day.
As Israelis celebrated Independence Day, authorities reopened roads that had been closed a day earlier and let all evacuated residents return home, but warned that the fires remained uncontained and could flare back up later Thursday.
“At this stage we still have not gained control [of the fires],” the Fire and Rescue Service said in a statement Thursday morning.
The KKL-JNF estimated Thursday morning that some 20,000 dunams (4,900 acres) had been burned in the blazes, including 13,000 dunams (3,200) of woodland, with Canada Park outside the city of Modi’in suffering particularly extensive scorching.
The fires in the Jerusalem hills area erupted Wednesday morning, ripping through the outskirts of the capital as a stifling heatwave and strong winds fed the spread of the flames.
The fires, which an official said could be Israel’s largest-ever, forced 10 communities to evacuate and shut down several roads, including the main highway linking Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
A spokeswoman for the Fire and Rescue Service said just before noon Thursday that authorities had authorized residents from Sha’ar Hagai, Mesilat Zion, Beit Meir, Shoresh, Neve Ilan, Yad Hashmona and Nataf to return.
Residents of Mevo Horon, a West Bank settlement near the Israeli city of Modiin, were permitted to return home earlier Thursday. Residents of Eshtaol and Mishmar Ayalon had been allowed back home Wednesday.