Rapporteur: Mr. John Woodcock, Database Administration, KKL Forest Dept, Israel
Between the dates of 8 October and 14 October there was a severe dry spell over all of Israel with strong foehn winds. During this week we had hundreds of fire outbreaks, with tens of sightings each day. Ninety percent of the fires were less than 2 ha, but quite a few escaped. The largest were on Mt. Gilboa (90 ha) and in the Carmel Mts. (150 ha and 540 ha).
Fig.1 A spray plane using foam solution
(Photos taken by Gideon Keidar and Salman Abu-Ruken.)
Fig.2. Attempts at wetting the vegetation before the
front arrives
(Photos taken by Gideon Keidar and Salman Abu-Ruken.)
The last two also caused property damage with about 20 homes being totally destroyed. The forests burned included pine plantations and dense stands of natural oak maquis.
The causes were both negligence and arson.
Additional information on the forest fires of October 1998 can be found under the homepage of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL) http://www.kkl.org.il/fire/english/default.htm, including a country-wide map of the main fire locations:
(Please note that in Israel the forest area unit is dunam. Ten dunam is equal to one hectare)
See also the Israel IFFN Country Notes.