Israel’s News Blog Magazine: Daily Stories Video and Photos

Battles are not always fought with bombs and guns. They may also be fought with water, and a variety of chemicals, often dumped or sprayed from small aircraft. If you’re wondering who these ‘unsung heroes’ are, they’re Israel’s fire fighters. Though fires to buildings are not as common in Israel as they are in most Western countries, Israel’s fire brigades are still kept quite active, fighting fires in residential and commercial properties, occasional industrial accidents, multitudes of traffic accidents; and of course, fires breaking out or being set in Israel’s grasslands and woodlands.

The attacks on Israel’s heartland by Hezbollah launched missiles, have resulted in so many alarms being received by fire brigade stations that volunteers have had to assist from stations all over Israel to cope with the abnormally heavy incidences of resulting fires to personal and commercial property as well as to forests and other open spaces. “Most people only hear about calls to the police and to Magen David Adom (Israel’s emergency ambulance and paramedical service). But nowadays, we are receiving as many calls as the other emergency services – if not more”, said Yossi, a long term firefighter from Nahariya’s central fire station. “Every time a rocket hits a building or a parked car, the resulting explosion almost always causes fire to break out. Judging from the numerous direct hits that this northern border city has received, including several serious fires to apartment buildings, it a wonder how these men can cope at all with the ongoing situation.

Fire brigades have always been one of the first emergency units to arrive at the scene of a serious terror attack, and their duties have often been to help assist wounded victims as well as fight resulting fires. Using a variety of equipment, they often have to face very dangerous challenges like going into burning buildings to rescue trapped people inside. They often work long shifts with little time to rest before the next alarm goes off. One firefighter commander, Moshe Moscow, was recently quoted that “every ketusha attack results in fire at more than 90 % of the time. And what is going on in the north has created hundreds of fires.”

Forest and grass fires have so far destroyed thousands of dunams of national forests, with the most serious one occurring above the town of Kiryat Shimona, which blanketed the entire area in a thick cloud of smoke for two days and destroyed more than 2,000 dunams (500 acres) of beautiful forests. Using often inadequate equipment, including small aircraft normally used as crop dusters, firefighters work round the clock to extinguish such blazes, using both water and tons of chemicals.

The services these brave men perform, most of them older guys with families, are not often appreciated, however. Many of them working in small (and even not so small) communities are not paid regularly, and due to fiscal monetary problems of many municipalities, many have money owed to them going back several months. That and their heavy work loads have resulted in a terrible amount of stress, which could eventually affect the men’s overall performance. “Many new recruits have no idea what to expect when joining our units,” said Yossi, who had just gotten off a 20 hour shift. “I just wish more people would begin to appreciate the job we are doing. And it’s not just rescuing cats from tall trees!”