Israel’s Fire Service is on alert ahead of Lag B’Omer, with an emphasis on chareidi areas where at times, Lag B’Omer gets out of hand. Fire trucks have visited many areas, like the Jerusalem forest bordering Har Nof, where extremely large bonfires deemed too close to trees are ‘washed down’ to prevent them from lighting. In some area, including Elad, dangerous bonfires are dismantled before they can do serious damage.

People are urged to adhere to basic safety regulations and common sense regarding bonfires. This includes maintaining a safe distance from electric lines, phone lines, telephone lines, vehicles, apartments and forestry. Adults should be present and there should be a running source of water on hand to address the unexpected.

People are also urged to distance all chemicals and hazardous/flammable materials from Lag B’Omer bonfires. People should be kept a distance from the actual fire.

One of the biggest issues is when the bonfire is done, to make sure the ambers are well extinguished and adults must supervise children rather than relying on the latter to take care of shutting down a fire. Fire Service officials urge one to call the emergency 102 number at any time if there is the fear a fire is out of control and not to wait to until a fire spreads.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)