"It was like a tornado," recalls Maj. N, an officer in Israel’s Search and Rescue Brigade. For security reasons, her name cannot be used.
On April 30, a fire swept across the low-lying hills that surround Highway 1, the main road from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. It spread among the dry trees of the Jerusalem Forest and snaked around fields covered with grape vines.
The officer describes what she did that day, with one of Israel’s army units that is trained to respond to emergencies.
“We went to help prepare, and we took all our gear to help the citizens. We arrived in two groups – one on Highway 1,” she says, describing how the soldiers divided the unit to help assist. Some of the soldiers went to an area near the fire. Officers drove up in a Jeep Wrangler to an area where they could help coordinate the response.
“We went there to help and to arrive at a point where we could see and help. We saw that all the fire was heading toward the highway,” she says. Highway 1 is traversed by tens of thousands of Israelis every day. It was around 10:30 in the morning, after rush hour. The smoke billowed from north of Latrun, a major intersection.
At Latrun, there is a Trappist monastery on one side of the road and an archaeological site on the other. On a third side is an old British police fort that now serves as the Armored Corps museum. It’s a key intersection for traffic going to Modi’in and toward Ashkelon. The smoke was rising from several areas, in a kind of light khaki color, mixed with darkness near the ground.
The soldiers exited the jeep and began to help. “We were able to help people and carry them out and move children and babies and the elderly to get them out and evacuate them. The fire was growing and advancing,” the officer recounts.
The road has a divider that keeps traffic separated, with metal rails on the side. The soldiers helped break through the rails so that vehicles could turn around and go back. By 11:30 a.m., the danger was increasing.
“That is what we did at the beginning. After that, we brought more forces from the unit to help us, and to assist in another area with the police, the firefighters, Home Front Command, ambulances, aircraft, and Magen David Adom.”
The soldiers and all the key on-the-scene elements arriving had a meeting to decide how to divide the first responders and units. The IDF officer says that her unit helped to evacuate communities near the highway. “We were able to help evacuate and to save lives and to work together between the Home Front Command and the Search and Rescue unit.”
It was chaotic and difficult to be next to the fire, but the soldiers responded as they should. They have worked together with the plethora of other responding units in the past, such as previous fires on the Carmel and elsewhere. For 48 hours, the emergency forces helped quell the fire and save lives.
Israel fights wildfires like many countries do, using a range of tools and first responders. However, Israel’s response is somewhat different. It doesn’t have the luxury of waiting. The country is crowded with small communities and congested roads. Fires cannot be allowed to spread for days. In addition, Israel has army units and a Home Front Command that are uniquely positioned to deal with these emergencies. This is how Israel combines its military abilities with other methods to deal with natural disasters.
Behind the scenes of the IDF's Data Center Unit
LT.-COL. YOSEF Salam works in the IDF’s Data Center Unit. He has been at the forefront of how Israel uses new technology to respond to these kinds of crises. Wildfires are only one of many emergencies that the IDF can use data to address.
The unit can do analysis using multiple sensors in the field to help understand the situation. This includes working with the Internet and the Home Front Command and other parties to create a data set and analyze it in crisis situations.
“This relates to how we supply data from specific events. We have experience from all over the world using various data tools to supply to the command and control [elements in charge of the event]. This enables them to make the right decisions,” the data officer explains.
He says that Israel has learned from experiences abroad. The responders learned from the wildfires in California in January that devastated areas in and around Los Angeles. In the US, they helped authorities to understand the situation, and they learned from this how to manage equipment and deal with a large wildfire.
This data unit was prepared for fires in Israel in the lead-up to Lag Ba’omer, on May 15. Israel was therefore more ready in late April than in past years. The data unit was also ready to assist locals in dealing with the fire.
“As we were preparing [for Lag Ba’omer], the fire happened in April, an unexpected fire near Highway 1 and Latrun. It was driven by extreme weather conditions. They [the authorities] had called us and asked if we could help them and to understand what was happening and where,” he recounts.
The unit jumped into action and helped to identity how the fire was spreading and where the hot spots were. This also aided in evacuating residents. They learned from methods they had honed in LA.
“We began to work with various types of images, such as those gathered from drones and data acquired in the field. We worked together with the firefighters and to understand how many people had been evacuated, and where they were going, and what was the situation as the fire spread in a large area. We supply maps and other tools to the units in the field, to help them to be more specific in the way they are dealing with the large fire,” the officer says.
The purpose of using data and maps based on real-time sensors is to create a multi-layered common picture of the situation. “It was very beneficial, and most people who worked on our system found it relevant and helpful to take decisions and share information with other units.
“My unit, this data and AI unit in the Home Front Command, helped in this situation,” he says.
The concept of using data fused from various sources is part of the larger trend in interconnectivity and the digital world. It relates to smart cities and the use of AI and many other tools.
The IDF has made a lot of technological progress in the last decade. It has gone through so much that some of this has been critiqued as an over-reliance on tech. However, when it comes to natural disasters, more information is better. Data and AI have no borders, the officer says. The information exists, and it’s a question of collaborating with the data and sharing it. It’s a question of having the databases and being ready for an emergency.
“This is what this new technology means – sharing and using this technology.” This can also help in Israel’s relations abroad and helping in places like California.
The officer notes, “It doesn’t matter if it’s a dam collapse such as in Brazil with millions of tons of mud, or an earthquake in Turkey, for instance, trying to understand how to manage the city affected.” Israel aided Turkey after an earthquake in February 2023.
The challenge is always trying to gather the right information and data and fuse them together. There are so many sensors today, that one has to try to harness them all. For instance, drones have revolutionized a lot of these approaches. Drones can help to fight fires by seeing where the fire is. Probably in the future, drones can be equipped to release water or other flame retardants on fires. Beyond the use of drones, there are satellites and infrared mapping and other data that can be collated.
“In a wildfire, it’s difficult to understand all the area the fire is moving in. We collect the data from satellites or drones or people in the field and from social media. After all those pipelines of data source are acquired, we can give the commander the right position and location of the fire, as well as predictions of what will happen in three to six hours, etc.
“We also acquire the capability to make predictions through geography and other conditions we analyze. We supply information about not only what is happening but also what will happen if we don’t use airplanes to fight the fire,” the officer says.
This isn’t the first time this kind of data was used to fight a fire. It is always a learning curve in Israel.
Preparing for emergencies on the frontlines
MAJ. N, the IDF officer for the company commanders course in the Search and Rescue Brigade, talks more about the role her unit played. The coed unit was founded in 2013. The members of the unit are combat trained as well.
She says that as a commander, she “fought in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, [carried out rescues] in Lebanon, and was deployed to scenes of destruction from Yemeni [Houthi] attacks.”
During the current war in Gaza, her boyfriend proposed to her, and they were married.
She says her unit does a lot of training for emergencies. They have specialized gear.
“We do all the drills for this. Our soldiers do this 24/7, and we make sure to provide them [with what they need] to be ready for any emergency, such as a wildfire or an earthquake. They understand the different types of situations,” she says.
During the current war, the Search and Rescue Brigade has been pressed into more combat action than in the past. N describes how they saved people in Gaza and Lebanon. The Home Front Command in Israel is prepared day and night for whatever emergency may arise. She describes the challenges over the past 20 months of war, as well as the spirit she sees in the soldiers.
“It’s a coed unit, and they have strength in their eyes and do everything to save lives; that’s what is gratifying in our unit. Others are fighting face to face with the threat and the enemy. We can also fight against the enemy, but we also know how, in time of need, to help save lives, whether it is civilians in a fire or on the home front [i.e., rocket fire], and we also deal with terror.”
N has been in the unit for eight years as it developed. Now dozens of soldiers are in the company commanders course for the unit.
“We are stronger and have many new elements. We are always becoming more modern – for instance, in the war,” she says. She hadn’t imagined she would serve in Gaza, but she says now there is nothing the coed unit cannot do.
“It is a unique unit. It’s not just about the tools or equipment; it’s about the people who join. There is nothing like our soldiers. They have high motivation with a strong spirit of fighters.”
The unit has faced challenges. It only became a field unit in 2016. It was tested on Oct. 7 because it has forces in Zikim near the border. Now they know they must be ready for anything. They also faced challenges in Gaza, such as serving in Rafah.
“We are prepared to be flexible in the field. We are unique in that we can arrive in any platform [helicopters or vehicles] – and all that in order to save lives.”
N says the sky’s the limit for this brigade. They can help in cases of building collapses and other emergencies that the IDF has faced in Gaza. They’ve faced the fire, the explosions, and the terrorists, and saved people in this crucible of war.
“We have brought people back [saving lives]; the goal is to bring people back alive. We wake up and go to bed to do this.”