JERUSALEM, April 23 (Xinhua) — A wave of brushfires broke out in the Jerusalem area on Wednesday and injured four people, Israeli authorities said.
United Hatzalah, a rescue service, reported that three firefighters with light injuries were evacuated, and a female Border Police officer sustained moderate injuries due to smoke inhalation and was taken to a hospital.
The National Fire and Rescue Authority said in a statement that a nationwide mobilization was declared to combat fires in wooded hills near communities about 25 km from Jerusalem, and near Beit Shemesh, a city about 30 km west of the capital.
Footage from the scene showed hilly, forested areas engulfed in flames, with dark smoke billowing overhead.
State-owned Kan TV reported that the fire was spreading rapidly toward Jerusalem, and that the police were preparing to close Route 1, the main highway linking the capital with Tel Aviv.
Eyal Cohen, deputy commander of the Jerusalem District of the Fire and Rescue Authority, told reporters that more than 120 firefighting teams from across the country were deployed, with at least 50 more en route.
The National Fire and Rescue Authority wrote on its Facebook page that the fires are spreading quickly due to a combination of hot weather, strong winds, and hilly, hard-to-access terrain.
Unseasonably hot weather gripped Israel starting on Tuesday, with temperatures in central parts of the country reaching 40 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. The country’s Meteorological Service said a historic April heat record was broken in the northern Arava region in southern Israel, where 44.6 degrees Celsius was recorded. ■
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