A automobile hearth broke out on a freeway west of Jerusalem Tuesday afternoon, inflicting flames to unfold to a close-by forest amid an intense week-long warmth wave sweeping the nation.
Firefighters wrangled management over the blazes at round 5 p.m. that night, however continued of their efforts to totally extinguish the hearth.
At round midday, the Hearth and Rescue Service acquired a report from the automobile proprietor, who stated that her car had abruptly caught hearth by itself on Route 44.
Police closed off a bit of the freeway as firefighters labored to fight the blazes that shortly jumped to Eshtaol Forest, whose woodlands were already ravaged in wildfires earlier this year.
“Firefighting crews from the Beit Shemesh area had been dispatched to the scene, however earlier than they arrived, the flames had already unfold from the facet of the street to the close by forest space,” stated the Hearth and Rescue Service in a press release.
By late afternoon, over 20 firefighting crews had been working on the scene. Crews from neighboring districts had been known as as much as bulk up Jerusalem District forces.
4 firefighting planes had been initially deployed to help the crews on the bottom, however wrapped up their work at round 2:30 p.m., stated a hearth service official.
The official instructed The Occasions of Israel that the company was nonetheless probing what sparked the sudden automobile hearth, which left the car charred on the facet of the street.
“There wasn’t something exterior that precipitated [the fire]; it might have been on account of some form of defective electrical circuit throughout the car, or one thing associated to the warmth,” stated the Jerusalem District official.
A automobile that went up in flames, sparking a bigger forest hearth, on Route 44, within the Judean Hills west of Jerusalem, on August 12, 2025. (Hearth and Rescue Service)
The fireplace service assertion famous that excessive warmth coupled with stronger-than-usual winds helped to speed up the hearth’s unfold.
This week has seen a massive heatwave affecting all parts of the country, with temperatures within the Jerusalem area reaching 39°C (102.2°F) at this time. Tomorrow and Thursday are anticipated to be even hotter, with a excessive of 41°C (105.8°F).
Border Cops operated within the space of the hearth to direct site visitors and guarantee public security, legislation enforcement stated. As of late afternoon Tuesday, police had not begun evacuating residents of close by communities.
