Photos of the Fire in Jerusalem’s Valley of the Cross

Yesterday on my way home,

I noticed how dry it was in the Valley of the Cross 

and I thought as I do every year:

it could all burn so quickly, so easily.

photo fire in Jerusalem

This afternoon smoke began to rise from the valley,

which is located under the Knesset Building.

photo fire in Jerusalem

For a time the smoke was dark and the flames were high, 

image fire in Jerusalem, fire photo, flames of brush fire

and they spread very quickly.

photo smoke and fire in Jerusalem

Fire crews arrived, 

photo fire in Jerusalem

and with their long water hoses

image fire in Jerusalem

they put out the fire.

picture of fire in Jerusalem

The smoke and the smell still lingered long afterwards.

photo Valley of Cross

But what seemed obvious was that after many months of construction and mess,

Valley of Cross

installing this emergency water system was worth the inconvenience and price.

Warning: Traffic Ahead

Traffic filled the Jerusalem streets last week.

First, there were major international conferences 

"photo limousine", "image limo", "picture limousine"

with motorcades and official limousines and sirens.

 Vladimir Putin was in Jerusalem for only one day,

but he caused a traffic mess of presidential proportions.

"photo Russian flag", "image welcome sign", "picture Russia flag'

The Russian flags welcoming him to Jerusalem were still flying after he left.

 Schools held countless end-of-year performances for families,

making driving unpredictable and parking sometimes impossible.

The usual was bad enough, but wait–it got worse.

"picture Jerusalem", 'Photo Jerusalem", Image Jerusalem"

The Promenades of the Tayelet are perfect for views  

"picture Jerusalem", "image Jerusalem", "photo Al Quds

of the Old City Walls.

In May,

"photo fire" "image fire Jerusalem", "picture smoke"

 smoke could be seen from several fires below the Tayelet,

"picture smoke". "photo Jerusalem", "image Silwan"

 but they did not spread.

Recently, however, there have been multiple fires in the area.

 Last week the main Route #1 into Jerusalem was shut down 

while firefighters worked to put out fires and

thousands of people were stuck in traffic for hours.

"picture wild fire", "photo smoke", Image fire"

There have also been less serious fires that do not make the news.

Traffic came to a stop for one such fire near Kiryat Gat, 

"plane photo", "image plane", "picture plane"

while planes circled above. 

We were able to turn around and take another route back to Jerusalem,

so I do not know how long it took to re-open the road.

The funeral for former Prime Minister Shamir is later today,

 and it could be a traffic disaster of Prime Ministerial proportions.

Major construction on Route #1 is scheduled to start soon,

so we are in for years of serious traffic nightmares.

Bad traffic situations ahead seem to be a certainty,

Photo cigerette","

but surely we can put an end to some of the dangerous fires.