MICHIGAN REGION OF WOMEN'S AMERICAN ORT • GREATER DETROIT CHAPTER OF HADASSAH • NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN GREATER DETROIT SECTION • JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT WOMEN'S CAMPAIGN AND EDUCATION DEPART).AENT • THE JEWISH NEWS INVITE 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 .