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WOMEN'S CAMPAIGN AND EDUCATION DEPART).AENT • THE JEWISH NEWS
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Fire Ravages
Kibbutz Lands
Jerusalem (JTA) — Fourteen
months after a forest fire de-
stroyed more than 3,200 acres of
woodland in the forested hills near
Jerusalem, another blaze has
claimed an additional 500 acres
of forest and several buildings in
the kibbutz of Kiryat Anavim.
Complaining about the poor re-
sponse to the fire, kibbutz resi-
dents and others living in the
affected area outside Jerusalem
are leading a vociferous outcry
against what they describe as the
negligence, apathy and ineffi-
ciency of the firefighting services.
They claimed that the report
and recommendations of a blue-
ribbon inquiry committee set up
to study the disastrous July 1995
fire have been largely ignored.
According to a preliminary in-
vestigation, the fire began in the
Arab village of Abu Gosh when
wind carried the flames from
burning garbage.
As the fire spread, black smoke
engulfed the area and reached the
main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem high-
way.
Thirteen people required med-
ical attention for smoke inhala-
tion, but there were no serious
injuries.
Interior Minister Eli Suissa has
ordered a new inquiry — both into
the weekend blaze and into the
apparent failure of the authorities
to learn the lessons of last year's
fire.
President Ezer Weizman, in a
grim-faced visit to the scene, urged
the air force to purchase special
firefighting planes and hold them
in readiness for such events.
A former air force commander,
Mr. Weizman said the Israel Air
Force's Sikorsky helicopters,
which lug large tubs of water from
nearby reservoirs and dump them
over a blaze, are by no means the
most advanced airborne fire-
fighting technique.
But most of the residents' crit-
icism was directed at the ground-
based fire services, headquartered
at Beit Shemesh, at the foot of the
Jerusalem hills.
Kiryat Anavim residents
claimed it took hours for the fire
officers to appreciate the strength
of the spreading blaze and to call
up fire-engines from Jerusalem.
"They could have stopped it
when it was still small," kibbutz
member Chava Abrahams said.
Meir Wiesel, chairman of the
Mateh Yehuda regional council,
charged that "none of the recom-
mendations made after last year's
fire was carried out in practice."
These recommendations in-
cluded beefing up firefighting ser-
vices in both material and
manpower, cutting wider safety
swathes through forest tracts, and
maintaining better watch for fires,
especially during hot weather.
you
TO
JointWomen's Day
WAERT-ilf,IA10
Thursday, October 10
10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Adat Shalom Synagogue
29901 Middlebelt, Farmington Hills
Keynote speaker:
LETTY COTTIN PKKEB1N
Editor and Founder of Ms. Magazine
Author of Getting Over Getting Older
SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS
Amit Women Batya Chapter • Auxiliary for Jewish Aged • Birmingham Temple
Family of Women • Brandeis University National Women's Committee •
Detroit Auxiliary ofAlpha Omega • Jewish Women International • Michigan
Branch Women's League for Conservative Judaism • Primrose Benevolent
Club • Sinai Hospital Guild • Sisterhood of Adat Shalom Synagogue • Sister-
hood of Congregation Beth Abraham Hillel Moses • Sisterhood of Congrega-
tion Beth Achim • Sisterhood of Congregation Beth Shalom • Sisterhood of
Congregation B'nai David • Sisterhood of Congregation B'nai Moshe • Sister-
hood of Congregation Shaarey Zedek • Sisterhood of Congregation ShirTikvah
• Sisterhood ofTemple Beth El • Sisterhood ofTemple Emanu-El • Sisterhood
of Temple Israel • Sisterhood of Temple Kol Ami • Sisterhood of Young Israel
of Oak Park • Temple Shir Shalom "Not For Women Only" • Woman's Auxil-
iary of the United Hebrew Schools • Women of Maimonides Medical Society
Registration I0 a.m.
Program begins promptly at I 0:30 a.m.
Cost: $25, including lunch
Babysitting available for ages 2 1/2 and older
,,,p,oAssAy
%Joint Women's Days
'°4 ''. vomEN.s°`?''
For information:
Hadassah - 683-5030
ORT - 855-9820
NCJW - 258-6000
Jewish Federation Women's Campaign and Education Department - 642-4260
.