As I write these words, Israel is in the grip of a national crisis brought on by the massive forest fire on the Carmel mountain range.  Already dozens have died including police officers, firemen and prison guards.  Tens of thousands - Jews and Arabs -  have been evacuated from their homes.

An entire kibbutz, Beit Oren, has been razed to the ground.

Central to the fight against the fire is the work of members of Israel’s firefighters union — see their logo to the left.

They are being joined by firefighting units - who will mostly be union members themselves - from all around the world, including Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus and, surprisingly, Turkey.

Palestinian and Jordanian firefighters in Israel

To help the battling Israelis the Palestinian Authority has  sent firecrews into the Galilee region. Despite some heavy criticism at home Jordan has also sent firecrews to the Haifa region.

Meanwhile Islamic Jihad on Friday attacked Arab leaders “whose hearts fill with compassion for the Zionist disaster.”

Israeli firefighters founding members of global union for firefighters

The Israeli firefighters are founding members of the International Fire Fighters Union Alliance (IFFUA), which also includes fire fighters unions from Australia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the USA.