Eighteen wounded were evacuated to hospitals since the morning due to the massive wildfire raging in the Jerusalem hills. Ten were taken to Shamir Medical Center, and the rest to Kaplan Medical Center.
“I need to recover. It wasn’t simple at all,” said Adele Kedmi from Jerusalem, who was injured in the fire. Kedmi and her one-month-old daughter were caught in the blaze on their way back from visiting her sister in Safed. “We were on a bus. I recently gave birth, and it was my first time traveling alone with a baby. Before we even got stuck in the traffic jam, we saw the smoke, but we didn’t know it would reach us too.”
Ten minutes later, while stuck in traffic, they could only see smoke. “We didn’t know what was happening. Suddenly, all the drivers ahead of us got out of their cars, and the bus driver told us to run. I immediately had a panic attack. I couldn’t move. All I could think about was my little baby. I just froze and didn’t know what to do. A kind woman took my baby, and someone else carried my bags and stroller, but we didn’t know where to go—all we could see was smoke and fire, and she couldn’t breathe.”
According to Kedmi, a police officer in a private car who was also stuck in the traffic offered to help them. “He told me, ‘Get in the car quickly.’ We got in, but he couldn’t drive either because everything was blocked, and the fire was already right next to us. I felt like I was losing it.” At this point, the officer told her to grab her baby and run. “He said, ‘Run, there’s nothing else to do.’ I couldn’t hold her, so someone helped me. The stroller was left inside the car, and everything burned.”
For about 15 minutes, Adele Kedmi ran with her baby along Highway 1. “I just ran, in a panic attack, crying, and all I cared about was my baby. We ran for about 15 minutes, running and jumping over fences. I’m recovering from surgery, so it wasn’t easy for me at all.” Eventually, police officers in the area spotted them and assisted. She and her daughter were evacuated by Magen David Adom teams to Shamir Medical Center. They arrived suffering from smoke inhalation. “They gave her oxygen and examined her. She’s okay,” she said.
“This was a very unpleasant experience. The people who were there will need psychological help afterward because it wasn’t simple at all. Hearing the explosions as cars blew up—it was terrifying,” Kedmi added.
First Sergeant Major Imri, from the Fire and Rescue Services, was injured in his eye and evacuated to Shamir Medical Center. He recounted: “We arrived at the Latrun area on Highway 1. We evacuated people from their cars, and it was an apocalyptic scene—220 yards of cars, one after the other, abandoned with no people inside, like in movies, with the red coloring of fire retardants from the planes covering them."
"In the Latrun area, near the Emmaus Nicopolis Monastery, parts of the monastery burned, and a spark got into my eye while we were working. I kept working, and when other teams arrived, an ambulance evacuated me to the hospital. We worked, and there’s still work to do there—it depends on the direction of the winds."
Dr. Gal Pachis, head of the Emergency Medicine Department at Shamir Medical Center, told Ynet that two infants, one month old and six months old, were evacuated to the hospital, as well as a pregnant woman in advanced stages of pregnancy. “Their condition is not life threatening. I hope we will be able to release them in the coming hours,” he said.
According to Dr. Pachis, most of the injured arrived suffering from smoke inhalation. “We have a small number of people who suffered from mild burns,” he said. He added, “The stories we’re hearing are very significant. It seems that most of the injured came from the Latrun area after being stuck in the traffic jam there. The fire came very close to their vehicles. One of the patients who came to us said they escaped their car at the very last moment. The air there was already extremely hot, and they barely managed to escape before their car was completely engulfed in flames.”
Dr. Pachis emphasized that the hospital was prepared with reinforced teams, including social workers, to help and support the injured. “We understand that the fire is still growing and spreading, so the overall situation is still unclear to all of us,” he said.
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Magen David Adom teams are stationed across all sectors to assist and provide medical care to the injured from the events. Gili Liberty, a paramedic with Magen David Adom, told Ynet, “Magen David Adom deployed to several points in the area, some near Modi’in and others near Highway 1. We received injured people who were evacuated on foot. My team and I were at a Magen David Adom station, waiting for a call, and as soon as we received one, we went to treat the injured.”
“This is a very stressful situation. Most of the injured we evacuated suffered from smoke inhalation and dizziness, and we transported them to hospitals where they are continuing to receive treatment,” she added.