Israel marked the sixth anniversary of the devastating Carmel wildfire on Thursday with a state service at the monument honoring the victims in Kibbutz Beit Oren, near Haifa. The 2010 Carmel blaze raged for four days and nights and claimed the lives of 44 people, 37 of whom were Israel Prison Service cadets sent to help in local evacuation efforts. It was the deadliest fire in Israel's history. The flames also forced the evacuation of 17,000 people and consumed 8,650 acres of land and natural forest. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh, Prison Service Commissioner Lt. Gen. Ofra Klinger, acting Fire and Rescue Services Commissioner Shimon Ben Ner, and the victims' families attended the service, joined by Defense Ministry and Public Security Ministry officials and senior police, prison service and fire department officers. Erdan pledged to "continue to give firefighters my full backing and assistance, by increasing manpower, adding equipment, and setting up additional fire stations."
