Jerusalem – Police who are investigating a major wildfire in northern Israel have detained a 14-year-old boy who admitted smoking a water pipe in the woods near his village, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
The wildfire killed at least 42 people and forced the evacuation of thousands of others before it was extinguished yesterday, police said.
The boy said he threw coals from his pipe in the woods, but then panicked and ran to school after the fire started. Two other teenagers detained yesterday werereleased, Rosenfeld said.
About 1 500 firefighters were still in the area and on standby, police spokesman Rosenfeld said.
The fire, which broke out on Thursday, forced the evacuations of about 17 000 people and scorched over 10 000 acres around Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, threatening businesses, tourism and one of Israel’s greenest regions, Mount Carmel.
The developments came a day after the Israeli Cabinet approved a plan to speed aid to those affected.
“I do not want delays,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. “I do not want bureaucracy. I want processes to be shortened. I want quick solutions. I want all of the people – within days – to be able to return to their homes or to alternative housing, until the reconstruction work is finished.”
The Cabinet has approved a series of steps aimed at kick-starting a quick response for victims. The Finance Ministry will allocate 60 million shekels (US$16 million) in aid to local communities affected by the fire. Netanyahu instructed that more funding be considered if necessary.
The plan will include compensating local governments for damages “in order to meet the costs of evacuating and absorbing populations, firefighting efforts, clean-up and dealing with infrastructures,” according to a government statement. (CNN)
