A 16-year-old volunteer Israeli firefighter died in the Carmel forest fire in Israel, a wildfire that is ravaging the landscape.
Elad Riven, of Haifa, was killed Thursday. He was a volunteer with a scout group of students.
He was in the northern city of Afula when his mother received a call to alert him to respond to the fire. He arrived soon afterward to assist evacuating residents from the area.
At least 42 people were also killed Thursday as a bus brought in to evacuate people from the area got caught in the fire.
According to FireFighterCloseCalls.com, the remains of a police commander who was killed while on his way to rescue residents were found. Lior Bokor, 57, was head of police operations for Israel’s northern region. Police searched for him on Thursday, but it appears he was caught in the fire while trying to ascertain the location of the bus that caught on fire.
The massive fire burns as mutual aid comes in from dozens of countries from the US to Russia as the Israeli firefighting response has been underwhelming, with staffing and supply troubles. Crews expect it will take at least a week to contain the blaze.
Published reports indicate that while policing services are well-maintained and adequately staffed in Israel, firefighting has not been an area of focus lately, and the country is now paying the price.
Very sad that an Israeli youth died fighting the horrendous fire and this article was given such prominence. As God’s Chosen peoplem, one Israeli life is worth much more than the life of any gentile. I live in Colorado and I hope one day we will have more fellow Jews in our Congressional delegation.