Rain helps end the fire

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In the week since last That's My World Tuesday Israel has been through trying times.
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We are mourning the loss of 42 men and women in the service of their country; all burned because a bus was engulfed just after the forest fire started on Thursday.
Some 250 housing units burned either totally or partially.
50,000 dunams (12,500 acres) of the Mt. Carmel forest, 5 million trees, were on fire.

Photo: Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson

The good part is that many nations came to Israel's aid.
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In the photo, in orange and blue, are just some of the fire fighting aircraft crews that came from ten countries.
Israeli pilots accompanied them in every sortie over the flames.
In 82 hours the fire was stopped.
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Yesterday and today 4 Israel Air Force bases held ceremonies for the departure of the international teams. IAF medals were presented to 192 foreign crewmen, and all the delegations received a certificate of gratitude from the commander of the IAF.
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But before leaving, they were taken around the country to visit the holy places.
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The water-dropping planes that Turkey graciously sent us flew up to Lebanon to battle the fires that are burning the majestic cedars.

The other good news is that for the first time in 8 months RAIN started falling all over Israel last night! Just in time to cool down the smouldering ground in the Carmel range.

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Above you see the welcome clouds over Jerusalem at 4:18 pm today, as seen from my village.

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The Boston Globe has incredible images of our fire online today, including the airplanes.

WARNING: On Photo 6 they give you a choice whether to open it; please PLEASE skip that difficult one.

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Thank God it is over.

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Showers of blessing

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RAIN! It's raining in Israel, at last, after eight hot dry months!
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Just in time to cool the simmering ground near Haifa at the end of our four-day Mt. Carmel fire.
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Temperatures in Jerusalem have suddenly fallen from the recent 70s and 80s F down to the 50s and 60s (= 11-16 C).
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Now, with the forest fire behind us and the winter rain ahead of us, hopefully we will be able to enter the mood of Chanuka and celebrate a bit.

Thank you, dear readers, for your expressions of support during the difficult days of fire.
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Saved by Google

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NASA's satellite photo shows the smoke from the Carmel fires drifting out over the blue Mediterranean.
Thankfully, today, for the first time since Thursday we have more smoke than flame.
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A year ago I took this photo of flame retardant being released over our neighborhood monastery when their forest caught fire.
It shows you what kind of firefighting equipment the great state of Israel has--small agricultural cropdusters doing double duty!
What's more, in normal times these Chem-Nir planes do not stand at the ready; it takes at least 2 1/2 hours to get them airborne.
If not for the generous sending of help from neighbor countries and from Europe and America, we would be in big trouble right now. See the impressive list of aircraft that has arrived in the last few days here.
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This morning the world's largest firefighting aircraft landed at Ben-Gurion Airport.
The Evergreen Boeing Supertanker--see it being welcomed here!
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I watched the live coverage of its first sortie at 11 o'clock and it was very scary.
A huge aircraft flying over hills and around high tension wires and dropping its load of 80 tons of water plus chemicals just 300 feet above the ground!
All the other 34 aircraft in action were kept clear of the path of the huge Boeing.
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People in buildings in the area were told to shut the windows and turn on the airconditioners (IF they are not outward-facing) because this anti-fire material is dangerous to one's health.
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And how did we come to know about the existence of the Evergreen Supertanker?
Someone in our aircraft industry remembered hearing about it once.
They Googled Evergreen, found the company in Arizona, called, got PM Netanyahu's OK to pay the gigantic rental fees, and the deal was sealed in 15 minutes.
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I ask you, is this the way to run a country??
Does our safety depend on Google and the good will of foreign countries?
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Memory of trees

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This row of trees (with Shadow Shot Sunday shadows) is on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives.
They are strong and alive with green.
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But on Mt. Carmel, near Haifa, 5.5 million of their brother and sister trees are now black and dead and more continue to burn ever since the huge forest fire started on Thursday.
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Precious drops

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The national water company's pipe was leaking at their little station in my village.
The suspended water drop contains a strange reflection. Is it me??
Whatever it is, it is for James' Weekend Reflections.
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Water, hoses, and firefighting are on every Israeli's mind.
The forest fires on Mt. Carmel near Haifa began yesterday and continue.
Today we started to bury some of the 42 casualties.
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We are so touched and grateful to all the countries that are sending aircraft, firemen, and flame retardant.
Thank you, bless you, friends and neighbors!
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A national tragedy happening

A terrible fire, the worst natural disaster in Israel's history, is raging on Mount Carmel, near Haifa, since around noon.

Perhaps 40 Prison Service personnel were burned to death in one bus. They were on the way to a prison to evacuate 500 prisoners.

Kibbutz Beit Oren burned.
Over 6,000 dumans (1500 acres) of woodland, including the beautiful forest area called Little Switzerland have already been destroyed.
Thousands of citizens in danger are being evacuated.

We have had no rain since last spring. The weather is hot and dry. The wind keeps changing direction today.

Helicopters and planes cannot fly to drop water or fire retardant during the night, in the dark.
We have asked Spain, Italy, Greece, Russia, and Cyprus to send firefighting aircraft and lots of the red chemical to help us.
Please add your prayers too.

You can watch the nonstop live coverage via Israel Broadcasting Authority TV at http://iba.org.il/media/ . Click on the blinking red title on the right to get Channel One.
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