Israel Sends Firefighters to Fight Amazon Wildfires

11-member team will help firefighting and search and rescue

 

 

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel says it will be dispatching a team of firefighters to assist Brazil with combatting the fires that have consumed large swaths of the country’s Amazon rainforest.

The Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed the matter with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, the 11-member team would depart in the evening to assist Brazilian authorities with search-and-rescue and wildfire operations.

Israel and Brazil have strengthened bilateral ties since Bolsonaro took office earlier this year. Netanyahu made the first state visit by an Israeli leader in December 2018, days before Bolsonaro’s inauguration, then rolled out the red carpet for the far-right Brazilian in April.

See also  Federal Wildland Firefighters Win Permanent Pay Raises in Budget Deal

August saw the highest number of fires in the Brazilian Amazon since 2010, and a sharp increase compared to the year before.

All contents © copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Topics

Subscribe to Our Monthly Newsletter

Stay in the loop with our wildland newsletter.

11-member team will help firefighting and search and rescue     JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel says it will be dispatching a team of firefighters to assist Brazil with combatting the fires that have consumed large swaths of the country’s Amazon rainforest. The Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed the […]

Get The Wildland Firefighter Newsletter

Related Articles

WA Lawmakers Slash Wildfire Budget in Half

WA Lawmakers Slash Wildfire Budget in Half

Isabella Breda - The Seattle Times May 8—CAMP CAMREC, Chelan COUNTY — The last fire to burn this forest was started by drip torches. Fingers of flame ignited the underbrush last fall, clearing fuels that could supercharge a wildfire. In a tour of the burn area last...

Wildfires Burn Thousands of Acres on Tribal Lands in ND

Wildfires Burn Thousands of Acres on Tribal Lands in ND

By JACK DURA Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Crews have been fighting at least 16 wildfires throughout North Dakota in the last several days, including several large fires still burning Tuesday across wooded areas and grasslands on the Turtle Mountain...

NC Fire Grows to 1,300 Acres; Burn Ban Implemented

NC Fire Grows to 1,300 Acres; Burn Ban Implemented

Martha Quillin - The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.) (TNS) A wildfire in Brunswick County that started Friday, May 2, is the largest of dozens of fires crews are working to contain across North Carolina. Weekend rains helped with some of the fires, but much of the state...