Israel evacuates thousands as fire spreads in northern city

[TomSea]

Israel evacuates thousands as fire spreads in northern city

HAIFA, Israel (AP) — A wildfire roared through parts of Israel's third-largest city on Thursday, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes and prompting a rare call-up of hundreds of military reservists to join overstretched police and firefighters.

Authorities speculated the blaze may have been set by politically-motivated arsonists.

Spreading quickly due to dry, windy weather, the fire raced through Haifa's northern neighborhoods. While there were no serious injuries, several dozen people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

Police and firefighters were deployed throughout the city, as people loaded up supermarket carts with belongings and fled their homes. Some people connected hoses together from apartment buildings to help battle the fires, while residents held cloth over their faces.

Continued: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israel-evacuates-thousands-as-fire-spreads-in-northern-city/ar-AAkHye5?OCID=ansmsnnews11

[TomSea]

The press reports the fires are under control and 4 arrests have been made. I don't think they released the name of the accused. Apparently they worked for a contractor.

It looks like in this photo, they are abandoning their car and taking off on foot.
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/crime/article/Israel-battles-fires-for-third-day-4-10634376.php#photo-11858582

A number of countries, including Ukraine, sent planes to help put the fires out.

60,000 evaculated:  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/tens-of-thousands-of-people-evacuated-from-israel-city-haifa-wildfires-suspected-politically-a7437391.html