My name is Roie Lomranz and I’ve been heading our community volunteer emergency fire response team in Har-Halutz for the past eight years. In November 2024, we completed the Operation Fire Support (OFS) workshop on safe practices and wildfire prevention measures directed by the wonderful Timothy Wainwright. We trained twice together with the volunteer teams from the neighbouring villages of Michmanim and Kmun—once indoor for the theoretical part and later for practical training out in the field. We also made a preliminary tour of the village with Timothy’s assistant, Ben Ridley, in order to pinpoint the dangers our community faces, the precautions needed to avoid them and the specific needs of our emergency fire response team.
Har-Halutz is a peaceful village with a tight community in the municipality of Misgav in northern Israel. We are surrounded by natural forest and had a major fire in the past, in which the whole population was evacuated, so we are well aware of the dangers (in the end no one was hurt but cars and property were burnt).
Since the beginning of the war our area is targeted almost on a daily basis—rockets, shrapnel and drones endanger our community and cause many fires around us.
We already work in coordination with Israel’s fire department and collaborate on many occasions and various aspects. This makes the added unique and complimentary knowledge and training we received from Timothy and Ben invaluable. It was serious, professional and suited precisely for our team’s needs while Timothy proved to be a gifted and seasoned instructor. He covered a lot of relevant material taking into thoughtful consideration the wellbeing of people in the community and the skillset our situation requires.
There is an urgent need for armoured fire trucks in Israel, primarily due to the risks associated with rocket and artillery attacks. Currently, there are no such vehicles available; however, I am committed to leading the initiative to introduce the first armoured fire trucks into Israel. These vehicles would be invaluable in supporting our programmes and aiding communities facing attacks. I believe this initiative could pave the way for Israeli authorities and other agencies to adopt similar protective measures in the future.
The financial requirements for acquiring these vehicles are considerable, yet I believe they can be met through generous donations.
May 2025: Fire Support Mission
Looking ahead to our next mission in May 2025, which will focus on pre-season firefighter training and community wildfire prevention and preparation, we anticipate a budget of $100,000 to continue our critical support and fire prevention efforts in Israel.
I appreciate the OFS’s important work and highly recommend the workshop for other volunteer emergency response teams in Israel. That’s why it is so important for OFS to be able to complete its mission of helping as many communities as possible, raising public awareness and raising the bar of skill and competence for our teams. Thanks for your meaningful support!
For those who wish to make a donation, the bank details are as follows:
Bank: St.George
SWIFT/BIC code: SGBLAU2S
Branch Address: Level 1, Shop 127-130 Carlingford Court, Carlingford Rd Carlingford, NSW 2118 Australia
BSB: 112-879
ACC: 433 508 731
ACC Name: Operation Fire Support Ltd
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