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As Israel Burned, U.S. Firefighters "Dropped Everything" to Help Battle Flames
(JTA) Andrew Tobin - Dozens of U.S. firefighters put their lives on hold - leaving behind jobs and families - to help subdue the wildfires that swept Israel over the past week. "When guys hear about a situation like this one, where the Israelis are working as hard as they can, they want to come help," said Billy Hirth, a retired firefighter from Arlington, Texas, who coordinated the American effort from Jerusalem. On Friday, Israel's Public Security Ministry formally requested firefighting help from the Emergency Volunteers Project, a network of over 950 American volunteers and professional first responders. By Saturday evening, the firefighters started arriving. Some went to work battling the remaining wildfires, while others performed routine firefighting tasks, relieving Israeli firefighters who have worked grueling shifts over the past week. "Because most of the Americans were trained in Israel, they are familiar with how we operate, and they were able to easily relieve some of the burden on the crews," said Oren Shishitzky, a spokesman for Israel's Fire and Rescue Authority. "I cannot emphasize enough our appreciation that these guys dropped everything around the Thanksgiving holiday to come here."