A massive wildfire that began on Sunday in the forest outside Jerusalem has so far destroyed some 6,200 acres (as of Tuesday morning in Israel). According to the Times of Israel, strong winds sent the flames toward villages throughout Jerusalem’s southwest outskirts, threatening Hadassah Hospital and triggering the evacuation of more than 2,000 local residents.
Jerusalem Police, Magen David Adom and hospital officials had prepared to evacuate the hospital, which houses thousands of patients at a time. But, fire officials feel certain that the threat to Hadassah has now been mitigated.
Meanwhile, MDA teams are standing ready. On Monday, they helped evacuate a number of nursing home residents to relatives’ homes and other facilities. MDA is prepared with large forces of ambulances, mobile intensive care units, and special intensive care buses that can evacuate 30 people, equipped with ventilators and other equipment needed to care for the most vulnerable.
The fires have been determined to have been started by humans. It is not yet known whether it is arson or negligence. While one firefighter was injured and treated at the scene before being evacuated to Ichilov Medical Center, there have thankfully been no civilian casualties thus far.
