Israel Fire Service investigators have released the preliminary findings into last week’s fires in the Ramot Forest and in the Romeima neighborhood of the capital. The fires were on Thursday, 18 Iyar.

According to the preliminary report, the Ramot Forest fire was the result of a Lag B’Omer bonfire that got out of control. At about 12:05PM, a strong northern wind moved into the area at about 15 knots, which led to the bonfire getting out of control on the hot and dry day. The blaze quickly moved to an adjacent thorn field and from there it spread to an all-out fire that led to the evacuation of homes and the need for ground and aerial firefighting efforts over a period of hours.

While this fire was still ongoing, a blaze broke out in the wadi in the northwestern area of Romeima. The fire spread rapidly due to the hot/dry conditions and here too, homes were evacuated. This fire according to the preliminary investigation is blamed on “playing with fire”.

Due to the many fires that broke out around Israel on Lag B’Omer, some opined the Ramot fire, which was large and out of control for hours, may have been the result of arson/terrorism but the preliminary findings do not concur.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)