The Jerusalem municipality dismantled dozens of would-be bonfires built in dangerous locations, Kikar Hashabbat reported.
Due to the expected heat wave and concerns about bonfires spreading into uncontrollable blazes, Israel's Fire Authority has prohibited the lighting of bonfires except in pre-approved sites.
Israel's chief rabbis echoed the statement, urging Israelis to obey the Fire Authority's instructions and reduce both the number and size of the bonfires.
"For thirty years already, we've been building a [bonfire] in this square, the community council approved it verbally and even gave us a sign," Rabbi Haim Weiner of Jerusalem's Ramot Gimmel neighborhood told Kikar Hashabbat. "We took all the required safety precautions and we spent hundreds of shekels on purchasing long water hoses so that they would be available if necessary. We also cut all of the dry grasses around the area, to prevent any danger."
"Hundreds of local residents come to this bonfire. This is going to be a huge disappointment for the kids. We invested a lot in this bonfire in order to ensure that it would be safe and meet the required standards in order to make our children and everyone else happy."