US Firefighters, Jet911 And Other First Responders Thanked by Israel For Assistance During Wildfires [VIDEO AND PHOTOS]

[VIDEO & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Very late Thursday night while America was celebrating Thanksgiving, hundreds of fires were raging throughout Israel, forcing tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes. Cyprus, Russia and many other countries provided aerial assistance while Israeli fire brigades fought tirelessly on the ground. With new fires (many labeled as arson and terror) and no end in site, Israels highest Fire Officials requested activation of EVP, a team of highly trained volunteer firefighters from the US.

Jet911’s Eli Rowe received an urgent midnight telephone call from Adi Zahavi, head of EVP requesting Jet911 to send the first wave of US firefighters to Israel. Adi selected 13 highly trained teams from all across the US that consisted of 39 firefighters from Dallas, LA, Tucson and 10 other cities.

In less than 24 hours the first teams were met by EVP and US Army representatives in Ben Gurion Airport and immediately deployed to battle blazes across the country. Over the following 48 hours the American Heroes worked hand in hand with the Israeli Firefighters until every last fire was extinguished.

Israels Fire Headquarters located in Rishon Lezion hosted a warm thank you and goodbye Tuesday morning for the American Team. Israel’s Fire Commanders and a teary-eyed EVP Chief Billy Hirth spoke at a ceremony honoring the US teams who selfless left their families during a holiday weekend and ran to help the Citizens of Israel.

Eli Rowe accepted a Citation of Appreciation by the Chief of Israels Fire Brigade on behalf of Jet911 and then he and the entire EVP Team of US Firefighters were invited to an Chatzor Air Base near Tel Aviv where all the countries who helped in Operation Fire and Water were thanked by the Prime Ministers office and ministers of Israel.

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro proudly voiced his recognition and appreciation as Israel’s Interior Minister Gilad Erdan thanked Eli and the amazing EVP team saying “we knew we could count on our American brothers, what we didn’t know was how quickly you would get here once we realized we needed help”.

Operation Fire & Water has been officially completed with international aid aircraft heading back home and the entire American team heading back to the US.