(haipo) - The huge fires that have plagued Haifa in recent years have raised serious concerns in the hearts of Haifa residents. The Carmel disaster in 2010, in which dozens of people lost their lives, was followed by the great fire that broke out here in 2016, which for many hours raged without control, reaching the residential neighborhoods, burning forest areas and countless trees in its path, consuming the houses and causing indescribable destruction. Many of the Haifaites lost their homes and all their possessions in this fire, and only by luck (and with the help of the rescue forces who worked continuously, of course) were there no casualties.
When it was all over and the smoke began to clear, when the sights and dimensions of the destruction began to be revealed, it was already clear beyond any doubt that the city was not prepared to deal with such events, which, it must be admitted with all the regret, may repeat themselves.
One of the conclusions that emerged from the investigation of the events in the following days, was regarding the necessary need to establish buffer paths in the residential areas, which would allow a quick and efficient escape of the population, especially when it comes to the confined neighborhoods - those whose entrance and exit is through only one road, a situation that in an emergency could become a real trap .
6 years later
Since then more than 6 years have passed, the issue has been repeatedly discussed in the city council and in the various committees, plans have been designed and presented, from time to time work has started to implement them and then stopped. Discussions again, delays again, and the bottom line - not much has changed.
But here, in recent days, with the explosive security situation in which we find ourselves in the background, the Municipality of Haifa, in cooperation with the Ministry of National Security and Fire and Rescue, has begun work to create buffer zones throughout the city, with the aim of reducing as much as possible the danger of forest fires spreading in residential areas.
Despite the delays - the first
Haifa is the first city in Israel to implement the national plan to create buffer lines, funded by the Ministry of National Security at a cost of approximately 12 million NIS. The activity is carried out on the basis of a dedicated master plan, prepared by the Municipality of Haifa and approved by the Nature and Parks Authority ", the National Forestry Official and the Fire and Rescue Authority.
In the first phase, the plan will be implemented in the following neighborhoods: Dania, Sabioni Dania and Ramat Golda.
The plan was presented to the members of the city council at the plenary meeting (Tuesday 6/8/24), by the head of the operations administration in the Haifa Municipality - Ohad Dorfman and the representative of the "Measures and Landscape Works" office - Eli Tal, who carried out the planning for the preparation of the plan. Later, the references of the commander of the Coastal District of the Israel Defense Forces - Tzvika Moyal, the representative of the national forestry official - Sameh Darousha, and the director of the Carmel region at the "Nature and Parks Authority" - Eyal Miller were brought.
The works to create the buffer lines will be carried out in public areas only, under the close supervision of an ecologist and agronomist, and will include cutting down pines and invasive species that are considered flammable and may increase the intensity of fires. The works will also include pruning and weeding of dry vegetation.
The activity will be carried out, as mentioned, according to a national plan adopted in 2022 as a government decision to deal with the burning of forests, groves and open areas through buffer zones. According to the program data, the increase in the frequency and intensity of fires is expected to worsen in the coming years as a result of climate change. In addition, war and its consequences also affect the possibility of fires and their extent.
The Haifa Municipality stated that the works in the first three neighborhoods have already begun (with the exception of cutting down trees) and will continue for several months. The continuation of the works will be determined in coordination with the fire and rescue forces and according to their instructions.
All of Carmel relies on a small fire station with congested exits on the ridge axis in Heinrich Heine Square in Carmelia. Despite the dire conclusions from the Carmel disaster that spoke of the urgent need for a large fire station on the ridge. Despite the requirement in the Carmel tunnels for a fire station with dedicated equipment for extinguishing tunnels to be built in Rome near the Matza gas station - they shelved the planning and opened the tunnels without a mandatory fire station and without having enough firefighters with knowledge of tunnel extinguishing.
Wait for the second half of the year. They talked about building a new fire station at this location in the Haifa Bay, which is also located on a congested and problematic road, and dividing it into two stations, one in the central area of the Bay and the other in the Nesher area. Instead, they took care of the Nesher station.
The head of the Haifa City Association of Firefighters at the time of the Carmel disaster was Rami Dotan. It turned out that he had no knowledge of the fire department, it was not on duty at all during the disaster, there were not enough firefighters because the Haifa Municipality of Y.Y. Refused to purchase fire engines and purchased them only 4 months after the disaster. There were no regular observations. No plans were made for fire stations. nothing nothing As a reward for the disgraceful failure, Rami Dotan was awarded the beloved city of Haifa and words of praise and praise from the mayor who was equally guilty of the Carmel disaster. Together they went to inaugurate a center for Elad Rivan, who volunteered in complete violation of the laws - to this day they glorify this criminality.
In short friends,
Tear down many, many flammable pines.
The minimum preparedness for fires was not implemented in Haifa.
The fire jumps 5-6 meters above the buffer areas with the wind lightly.
"Escape" roads from "imprisoned" neighborhoods will contain hundreds of drivers like the Beit Oren road on fire and it will be a major disaster if the fire surrounds the vehicles waiting to leave the neighborhoods on the back of Huadiot where the wind is the strongest.
You are in the Haifa municipality - leading with open eyes to the next disasters.
Mixing between escape roads from "closed neighborhoods" as far as they exist at all and thinning vegetation / combustible materials in the greenery that surrounds us.
And all this "accompanied by an agronomist". God forbid a professional forester who would not have been harmed if he had been involved in the planning. And when the book pointing to the conclusions of the great fire shows how it broke out from within the city and not from its outskirts.
It is also not clear that a multi-year decree will stabilize these buffer zones that must include pasture.
And why in the order of priorities is Savioni Dania that anyway everything is there to cancel because it is going to be built according to an approved plan. Instead, this area should be equipped with emergency extinguishing means that are not in the possession of the Abayin for simultaneous treatment in case the fire attacks more than one floor.
It seems that this is enough for the time being regarding the above. Feel free to contribute more...
The pace of implementation of the plan must be extremely fast. We do not have the privilege of being indifferent
or innocent.