A fire is raging on Wednesday afternoon on Highway 1, and the Fire and Rescue Services stated that there is real danger to the public as drivers fled their burning cars after wildfires broke out on Wednesday morning in the Eshtaol forest near Beit Shemesh amid dry and hot weather conditions and powerful winds.

As the fire progressed, drivers on Highway 1, connecting Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, were forced to flee their cars. About 10 people had to be rescued after they were trapped in their cars due to the smoke. According to reports, four cars caught on fire but b’chasdei Hashem, the occupants of the cars managed to escape.

Rescue forces rescued people who were trapped in their cars and shortly before 3 p.m., efforts began to remove the median barriers on Highway 1 to allow cars to escape.

Twelve people were injured from smoke inhalation.

Currently, IDF forces from the 669 Rescue Unit are carrying out searches to confirm if anyone is still trapped in their cars.

Defense Minister Yisrael Katz has declared the fire a national emergency and has asked IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir to deploy IDF forces to help fight the fire and save lives.

Following a situational assessment, Israel issued an urgent request for international assistance in extinguishing the fires to five countries: Cyprus, Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Italy. The Israel Airports Authority is preparing to receive foreign firefighting planes.

Greece and Cyprus are sending at least 10 “supertanker” planes, reports said. Italy and Belgium have also promised to send aid. The Palestinian Authority offered to send a team of firefighters to assist the efforts. Israel has not yet responded to the offer.

Due to the strong winds, the fire is continuing to spread and shortly after 3 p.m., the police began evacuating the yishuvim of Mevo Choron, near Modi’in and Mishmar Ayalon. A huge fire also broke out next to the central city of Elad. The police evacuated 1,300 yeshivah bochurim from two yeshivos in the city and as of 4 p.m., were evacuating residents of homes in the eastern part of the city.

Shortly after noon, a fire broke out in an open area next to Rechov Pinchas Ben-Yair in the Nahar Yarden neighborhood of Ramat Beit Shemesh Beis, burning dangerously close to the homes on the outskirts of the city. Firefighters are currently battling the flames and making efforts to prevent the fire from reaching homes.

The residents of the homes closest to the fire were evacuated due to concerns of smoke inhalation.

The fire in Beit Shemesh:

The Fire and Rescue Services issued a “Red Torch” command –  the highest level of alert in the fire department – and a nationwide mobilization of firefighters. A fire command center was established in the Latrun area.

Approximately 120 firefighting teams are working to prevent the spread of the fires, in addition to 10 firefighting planes and four helicopters, with the help of ATVs and firefighting forces from across the country. Strong winds are blowing in the area, contributing to the rapid spread of the fire, and firefighters are working to contain and prevent its spread towards wooded and populated areas.

A command center has been established in Ikea Eshtaol and in the Latrun area to manage the complex firefighting efforts. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman are at the command center and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is on the way.

“I asked the IDF to send helicopters, people need to be rescued,” said Ben Gvir, who also spoke with Defense Minister Yisrael Katz about assistance from the IDF. He added that he ordered fire trucks to deploy to the area from the north, as well as motorcycles from special units to rescue those who are trapped. The Air Force is also assisting in extinguishing the fires and Unit 669 teams are on close alert. IDF fire trucks have been deployed, and various aircraft are expected to participate in the monitoring and firefighting efforts.

Earlier on Wednesday, the yishuvim of Neve Shalom, Bekoa, Ta’oz, Nachshon, and Mesilat Tzion were evacuated of their residents. The planned Yom HaZikaron ceremony at the Latrun memorial was canceled and the area was evacuated. The police closed Highway 3 to traffic along with part of Highway 1, which connects Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The Yom Ha’atzmaut torch lighting ceremony scheduled for Wednesday evening at Har Herzl in Jerusalem was canceled due to the fire and strong winds.

The fire next to Highway 1:

The fire comes only a week after a similar fire broke out in similar heatwave conditions, leading to the evacuation of residents and road closures. The fire, which burned about 10,000 dunams (2,470 acres) of land, is believed to have been caused by arson.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)