After about 30 hours, Chief Fire  Eyal Caspi announced at 6:30 p.m. that control had been achieved over the massive fire in the Jerusalem hills.

“The Fire Chief has instructed to gradually reduce forces,” a statement said. “The firefighters will continue to work at low intensity but with a strong presence on the ground to prevent the fire from rekindling. The Fire Chief thanks all the forces and parties that assisted in the national effort to extinguish the fire.”

The main hotspots on Thursday were Latrun, Burma Road, Eshtaol, Mesilat Zion, Ta’oz, Canada Park, Sha’ar HaGai, Kedoshim Forest, and Shoresh.

According to the Fire and Rescue Authority, a special investigative team has launched a probe into the circumstances of the fire, and an in-depth investigation is underway.

About 20,000 dunams of land were destroyed in the fire, including 13,000 dunams of forest.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)