Jerusalem hills fire threatened to consume mountainside village

TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF

Blaze surrounded Beit Meir, burned at least 10 buildings before it was beaten back; one suspected arsonist held by police; tens of thousands can’t yet return to Haifa homes

Footage of a fire in the mountainous village of Beit Meir, west of Jerusalem, November 25, 2016. (YouTube screen capture)

Dozens of firefighters spent the night battling a massive forest fire in the Jerusalem hills that threatened to obliterate one small community west of Jerusalem, fire officials said early Friday. A “great many” homes in Beit Meir, near Abu Ghosh, were overtaken by the flames, police said, but there were no reports of injuries as the village’s residents had already been evacuated.

The blaze is part of a wave of forest and brush fires that have cut a path of destruction across several of Israel’s forests in recent days – and in several places entered residential areas. No one has been killed in the blazes, but hundreds have been injured and dozens of homes burned.

In Beit Meir, at least 10 buildings had been burned by 6 a.m. Friday, and small fires remained in public spaces in the village.

An estimated 25 fire trucks and 60 firefighters spent several hours overnight fighting to stop the spread of the blaze, which started some 15 kilometers west of the capital.

Police sealed off the main entry road into the hamlet while residents were taken to nearby villages Shoresh and Tzora.

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