Volunteer firefighters on standby for Israel

By Michelle Bortnik

Issue of January 29, 2010/ 14 Shvat 5770

Seconds count when responding to a fire but when extra assistance is needed sometimes even a response from far away is warranted — even as far away as 6,000 miles, it seems.

A not-for-profit group called the Emergency Volunteers Project is looking for American volunteer firefighters who are willing to fill in for Israeli firefighters in the event of war. The Israeli firefighters would presumably be called up for military service.

Israel has approximately one firefighter for every 10,000 people, according to Adi Zahavi, the organization’s international director. There is a dire need for trained firefighters there in times of national emergency, he said.

Emergency Volunteers Project began in 2006, after the war in Lebanon. Nathan Rothschild, the commissioner of the Monsey Fire Department in Rockland County, organized more than a dozen volunteers to man understaffed firehouses throughout Israel.

“It was the first time that Israel had a real fire emergency on a larger scale, and we saw a need and volunteered to go,” said Shlomo Pomeranz, a Rockland County volunteer firefighter who participated in the trip. “Israel discovered that when they have an emergency they mobilize the firemen and send them to the army. They need help but cannot recruit from inside the country because anyone that is able to fight a fire is able to go into the reserve.”

To volunteer in the program, prospective firefighters need to have at least one year of firefighting experience and go through an interview process. Once accepted into the program firefighters are sent to Israel for six days of training, where they learn how to react to major conflicts, local incidents and natural disasters.

“We don’t teach them how to work or how to be firefighters,” explained Zahavi, “but in Israel the equipment is different, the procedures are different especially in an emergency, and we do not want firefighters touching [down in] Israel for the first time when they have sirens and missiles falling on their heads.”

Firefighters also go through an Israel-in-War training scenario that teaches them how to deal with the local population in case of emergency. To ensure that international firefighters will be on the same page as their Israeli counterparts each volunteer also takes a class to learn about different types of missiles, bombs, threats and terrorists.

“It is a project for the fire department of Israel with the fire department of Israel,” Zahavi said.

The proposition is a costly one though. The six-day training in Israel, that includes meals and housing, costs about $1,300 per firefighter, plus airfare. And airfare for firefighters during an actual emergency needs to be covered as well.

“It’s hard to get funding from the Israeli government,” Zahavi explained. “The only way to get funds is from donors.”

He is currently in America to recruit firefighters and raise money.

“When we went in ‘06, forget about the government or people in Israel, but the firemen in Israel were in total awe that firefighters from somewhere else in the world would pay them recognition and help them.” Pomeranz said.

“Being a firefighter is a worldwide brotherhood, but the major difference this time is that Israel is reaching out to us.”

For more information about the Emergency Volunteer Project, or to volunteer visit www.evp.org.il.