At approximately 11:30 Tuesday morning, a report was received in the operations room of the Beit Shemesh fire station about a fire inside a building serving as a shelter for the residents of Mevasseret Tzion.

Three fire brigades under the command of Reshef Moshe Elian from the Maoz/ Mevasseret Tzion station responded to the site.

The firefighters arrived at the burning building and began to search for persons trapped inside. After determining there was no one inside, and no one was injured, the crews worked against the thick acrid smoke that had accumulated there. A large amount of damage was caused to the site.

About twenty residents were evacuated from the building before the firefighters arrived, thereby avoiding injury or worse. A probe was launched to determine the cause of the fire.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem/Fire Department Spokesman Unit)