Officials say massive wildfires 'will come to Israel, there is no helping it'

Israeli officials are warning that massive wildfires will soon take place in Israel, and that the current budget and staffing of Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority may be insufficient to address such a possibility.

Speaking to the Times of Israel, one assistant fire commissioner in Israel said that “it will come to Israel, there is no helping it.”

The report stated that “temperatures [are] on the steep rise in the eastern Mediterranean,” with “officials in the Fire and Rescue Authority” claiming “that an outbreak on the scale of Los Angeles is not out of the question.”

A representative for Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority said that the current number of firefighters “doesn’t meet the global standard.”

“We recruited quite a few firefighters to the department but of course, this still doesn’t meet the global standard,” he said. “I’m a little bit cautious of saying these things but if we want to prepare ourselves, we want to recruit more firefighters.”

He added that “it could be that if we had a broader budget, we would be able to measure up better,” but that “right now we are doing the maximum with what we have.”

Israel has dealt with intense fires in the past, both intentional and naturally occurring.

In 2016, approximately a quarter of Haifa’s residents evacuated homes due to fires, and over 500 apartments were destroyed.

The Israeli government stated at the time that many of the fires were not naturally occurring. 

“From information received by the Tax Authority, the Israel Police and the Fire and Rescue Services commission, it has been determined that the fires in these locations were caused by intentional arson with reasonable suspicion of terrorist activities,” a statement from the Israel Tax Authority said.