Fire-fighting aircraft from Britain, Greece and Cyprus landed in Israel early Friday, the first arrivals of a planned international aid drive to battle a massive brushfire that has been searing its way through a large area of northern Israel since Thursday morning.
Over 15,000 Northern residents, including 600 prison inmates, were evacuated as the blaze raged out of control, devastating hundreds of acres of pine forest before sweeping down the slopes of the Carmel plateau towards Haifa, Israel's third largest city.
The death toll from the blaze reached 41 on Friday, most from an incident involving a bus carrying members of a Prison Service guards' course who were heading to the Damon jail to help evacuate inmates there.
When a fallen tree blocked a road, their bus was trapped in the flames, killing as many as 36 passengers, as well as others who had attempted to rescue them.
The convoy of the first international aircraft also included a Bulgarian aircraft, carrying 100 Bulgarian fire fighters and accompanied by the country's deputy foreign minister.
Other aircraft included four fire-fighting planes sent by Greece, one sent by Cyprus as well as a fire-fighting plane sent by the government of Azerbaijan. Two Turkish aircraft are expected to land at the Ramat David Israel Air Force base later in the morning.
Other countries sending aid to arrive at Israel later Friday support included Egypt, Jordan, France, Croatia, Russia, Spain, and Romania. Overall, 20 fire-fighting planes are expected to arrive in Israel, with New York's fire department also agreeing to send an airplane
Officials at the U.K. embassy in Israel said that London dispatched had Royal Air Force helicopter based in Cyprus with fire-fighting equipment to help in the efforts to put out the Carmel blaze.
The IAF will be in charge of coordinating the aerial fire-fighting efforts, including the international teams.
U.S. President Barack Obama offered condolences Thursday to the families of the fire victims, pledging American aid to help fight the blaze.
"I want [to offer] our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all those who died as a result of the terrible forest fire in northern Israel," Obama told Jewish community at a Hannukah candle lighting ceremony at the White House that was overshadowed by the tragedy.
"As rescuers and firefighters continue in their work, the United States is acting to help our Israeli friends respond to the disaster," he said.
Obama told reception guests, among them Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, that planning had begun to send assistance.
Mass evacuations continued across northern Israel Friday morning as dry easterly winds fanned a massive brushfire towards the city of Haifa.
By mid-evening Thursday, fire chiefs admitted that they had no control of the fire, believed to have started in an illegal landfill site.
As the flames neared the city limits, residents of Denya, an affluent district of Haifa – a busy port city and the north's economic heartland – were moved to safety.
At around 4:00 A.M., local time, firefighters warned of the possibility the blaze would reach Highway 4, a major traffic artery linking the north with Tel Aviv, with those predictions proving true later in the morning.
At around 10:30 A.M. on Friday morning the fire had swept its way to the farther coastal Highway 2, forcing police to close one of Israel's busiest roads between Zichron Yaakov and Haifa.