Firefighters were sent Thursday afternoon to battle a number of blazes around the country. Military and civilian forces, including those of the Jewish National Fund, on the ground and in the air fought a brush fire that broke out in Tel-Katzir near the Ofek military base at the southern end of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). A fire broke out in the Neve Ilan forest, next to Route 1 near Jerusalem. Firefighters from Beit Shemesh, assisted by airplanes, are fighting the fire. The blaze has not endangered television studios in the area but smoke might cause problems on the highway.
Firefighters from the Sharon area have been working with Judea and Samaria firefighters since the morning to control a fire which threatens residences in the Samarian Jewish community of Alphei Menashe. At one point, control was achieved but new outbreaks have returned firefighters and aircraft to the scene. A number of warehouses and bed-and-breakfast rooms have burned and three people have been treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.