The United States Government’s Response to the Carmel Fire

Today our faith-based office at the U.S. Agency for International Development hosted a conference call with Nancy Lindborg and Daniel Shapiro to detail the U.S. Government’s response to the Carmel Fire in Israel.  Nancy Lindborg is the Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance at USAID and Daniel Shapiro is Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Staff at the White House.  I was honored to moderate the call and engage with the 180 plus participants we had on the line. 

Highlights of the U.S. Government’s response:

• A USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) of 10 people arrived in Haifa, Israel on December 5 and remains in place as the response continues.
• The DART, which includes a National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) team with fire management experts from the U.S. Forest Service, is currently working alongside their Israeli counterparts at the command center at Haifa University.
• The Israeli government expressed greatest need for fire suppressant and retardant.  In response, the U.S. Government has delivered 111 metric tons (MT) of fire suppressant and 3,800 gallons of fire retardant concentration.   This assistance was delivered via five US C-130 aircrafts.
• Of the 111 MT’s, this included USAID who airlifted approximately 27 MT of Fire-Trol retardant and 22 MT of Fire-Trol fire foam with the addition of 20 MT of fire foam donated by Italy. 

The Government of Israel has been leading an extraordinary effort to contain and suppress the wildfires, and – as a result of the success of that effort – several operations that were in motion to provide additional aircraft and support were not needed but remain in a “stand by” status should the situation change.

Echoing the President’s remarks from last Thursday’s Hanukkah Celebration at the White House, our deepest condolences are with everybody in Israel who is affected by this tragedy and the family and loved ones of those in harm’s way.  USAID is committed to continuing to work with our partners as the Carmel region transitions from disaster response to recovery.  Our faith-based office at USAID is taking the lead for the U.S. Government and is coordinating the flow of information with the NGO community as together we look towards long-term recovery and reforestation. 

If you would like to make suggestions about how we can add value to conversations taking place amongst NGOs or if you’d like to receive updated information about the U.S. Government response, please send us an email at FBCI (at) usaid.gov. 

Ari Alexander is Deputy Director at the Center for Faith-based & Community Initiatives and the Coordinator of Global Engagement at the United States Agency for International Development.