World
ISRAEL'S FORES
RE
Response from page 30
Aftermath from page 30
A small tanker plane dumped water on the Carmel fire over the weekend.
France, Switzerland, Britain, Spain
and the United States. The Palestinian
Authority sent 21 firefighters and four
fire trucks to help battle the blaze.
Thirty-five firefighting airplanes
came to Israel. New York City sent a 747
loaded with Fire Troll 931, a fire retar-
dant chemical, in a shipment organized
by the New York Fire Department and
the mayor's office.
Israel also rented the American
Evergreen Boeing 747 Super Tanker, one
of the most advanced firefighting planes
in the world, loaded with 21,000 gallons
of fire retardant. It arrived early Sunday
morning and had an immediate effect
on helping douse the flames.
The deadliest incident came in the
fire's early hours when a bus carry-
ing about three dozen cadets from the
Israeli prisons service, on their way to
evacuate a prison threatened by the
blaze, became trapped between burning
trees. Nearly all those aboard perished,
and the bus was left a scorched shell.
Two firefighters who rushed to rescue
The Carmel fire destroyed 12,000 acres and 42 people died.
32
December 9 m 2010
the guards and a 16-year-old volunteer,
Elad Riven, also were killed. All of the
bodies were identified, some using
DNA technology, by Saturday night; and
funerals began being held while the
blaze was still raging.
"No one sent you, no one called for
you, no one but your wonderful and
brave conscience," Israeli President
Shimon Peres said during a eulogy at
the funeral for Riven on Sunday. The
"disaster taught us that all of us —
Jews, Arabs, Druze and other peoples —
share the same fate."
A day after the blaze was brought
under control, the fire's death toll rose
by one with the death of Haifa Police
Chief Ahuva Tomer, who was burned
over most of her body while trying to
assist the prison guard cadets.
Jewish communities in Denver, Colo.,
and Winnipeg, Canada, also mourned
the death of one of the bus passengers,
Rabbi Uriel Malka, 32, who was work-
ing as a chaplain in the Israeli Prisons
Service.
Malka, a father of five, worked as a
Jewish Agency emissary for two years
in Denver and then served as princi-
pal of the Ohr Hatorah Day School in
Winnipeg. Malka had narrowly escaped
death during combat in the Second
Lebanon War. ❑
The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit reported two of the fire's vic-
tims were from its Partnership 2000
region in the Central Galilee.
Hanan Ohayon, 31, of Nazareth Illit
perished in the bus containing prison
guards speeding to the rescue of pris-
oners at Damon Prison. He is survived
by his wife, Rose, and two children.
Uri Smandayev of Migdal HaEmek,
27, died while trying to rescue prison
guards in the burning bus. He is sur-
vived by his wife, Ziv, whom he recently
married.
The Jewish Federations of North
America and its overseas partners, the
American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee and the Jewish Agency for
Israel, have mobilized on the ground
in Israel in response to the massive
forest fires. For more information, or
to contribute to the effort, visit www.
Jewishdetroit.org .
Akiva Hebrew Day School in
Southfield is selling bracelets to raise
funds for the Carmel Relief Fund, a
nonprofit that provides immediate aid
to nonprofit relief agencies working
in the field, firefighters, evacuees and
local wildlife. A blue-and-white brace-
let with an orange imprint that reads
"Israel — From Darkness to Light" is
available for a minimum donation of
$3. Contact Jill Greenbaum, (248) 640-
4982 or miamiji11824@aol.com .
Ameinu is partnering with Dror
Israel, a pioneering Zionist youth
movement, to provide financial assis-
tance for volunteer efforts Dror Israel
has been undertaking since the fires
began. The Israeli group is related to
Habonim Dror North America. Visit
www.ameinu.net and put "Dror Israel
Disaster Relief" in the memo box on
the donation page.
B'nai B'rith International (bnaibrith.
orgy, JStreet (jstreet.org) and many
other organizations also have opened
campaigns to provide aid. Visit their
websites for more information. El
Hanan Ohayon, 31, of Nazareth Illit
and Uri Smandayev, 27, of Migdal
HaEmek, from Detroit's Partnership
2000 region in the Central Galilee,
were fire victims.