It started on Thursday, December 2nd at 11:00 am when 15 firefighting teams were said to battle a blaze that broke out in the Carmel. Little did they know they were trying to put out what was going to be the worst forest fire in the history of Israel. Soon the fire started spreading and threatening villages and neighborhoods around the area after already having burned approximately 6,000 dunam. A bus manned with 40 prison guards was heading for the Damon prison in order to evacuate the Israeli and Palestinian criminals to other jails, when it ran into the inferno after overturning. Apparently a tree fell down in the middle of the road the bus was taking, trapping the bus between the flames. The men on the bus had no chance escaping and they all died in the flames. Meanwhile the fire was still raging and for now 42 is declared dead and 6 injured, though yet it is not certain exactly how many victims the fire collected. Israel called on Cyprus, Italy, Russia and Greece to send fire fighting planes. It also asked the US government to send firefighting aircraft and firefighting materials from nearby military bases. Amazingly, despite the great diplomatic tension with Israel, Turkish officials announced that they too will be sending two firefighting planes. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has already declared this day as a national day of mourning, yet he stressed that there is no time right now to mourn and get into inquiries for assistance must be provided as the battle continues. These minutes as I read to you these lines at the small hours of the night, firefighting officials declared that they yet did not take control over the fire. It has already annihilated more than 12,000 dunam and there is no estimation regarding when this nightmare will finally end.
