Massive debilitating fires in Israel and Iran

Dec 2, 2010

Society

Fire in Israel (image from Reuters)

A major forest fire killed at least 40 people in northern Israel on Thursday, including prison guard cadets, and police officers. More than 12,000 people were evacuated from towns and villages as the fires threatened hillside homes around City of Haifa. Firefighters said it was the biggest forest fire in the country's history, with some 7,000 acres of land destroyed.

This comes shortly after a series of widespread forest fires in the Northern and Western areas of Iran have burned acres and occupied emergency and security forces for days.

The two fires in Iran and Israel seem to be a coincidence and imposed on both nations by forces of nature. But human causes, arson and sabotage have not been ruled out by authorities in either country.

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