"It's a Nightmare, the Fire Affected All the Trees and Left Us With Nothing"

"I feel like I'm in an endless, dark nightmare; it's unbelievable how much damage fire can cause. I've been in agriculture for over thirty years and have never experienced a disaster of this scale," says Moshe Gezi from Kibbutz Almog with great pain.

Alongside the pain in his voice, one can hear the struggle and helplessness. "Until about a week ago, we had giant date plantations in the kibbutz, regarded as the largest date growers in the Negev area. Our plantations cover hundreds of acres that I've been cultivating for over thirty years; it's the only thing I know how to do—growing dates".

But last week, the unexpected happened: a large fire broke out in the plantation and burned down almost all of the trees. "It took nearly a week to completely overcome the fire," he recounts, "but now our big nightmare is starting, as we are faced with a scorched and charred plantation and enormous damage that is indescribable in words," he notes painfully.

Battle for Every Tree

It all started with an arson that, according to him, took place early last week. "We still don't know who set the plantation on fire, but when I found out about the fire and rushed to the scene, I saw two burning spots, and on the side of the plantation, there was an ignition line on the ground. This indicated to me that it was caused intentionally," he clarifies.  

Moshe mentions that he called the fire department, and together with the firefighters and the plantation team, they tried to put out the raging flames. "There were trees that were entirely burning, and the firefighters fought the flames; my team and I went through the trees to wet them from top to bottom to prevent the sparks and embers from spreading. We worked like this all night, but at four-thirty in the morning, a strong east wind arrived, and the entire plantation caught fire again, spreading to 350 more acres of date palm trees. All our efforts went down the drain".

The next morning, they continued their task—wetting the trees and trying to extinguish the embers and sparks. "The work was done at great personal risk; we were surrounded by a ring of fire, and my workers truly risked their lives," Moshe describes. "At this stage, the fire also began reaching our equipment, each worth nearly a million shekels. It was a major rescue operation that wasn't even clear would succeed".

Finally, firefighting planes arrived and extinguished all the flames, but even then there was still a need to continue putting out smaller fires, and there were shifts to guard the plantation, to combat secondary fires that broke out and to call the fire department if necessary. "Only at the beginning of this week can we say that the fire is fully out," concludes Moshe sadly.

Trying to Recover

How are you recovering from the fire?

"It's impossible to say it's not hard for us, and personally, I feel like one of the things closest to me was harmed. It's not just that I named my daughter 'Tamar'; the dates are truly part of our family... But we're not afraid of hard work, and in the last two days, we've already reinstalled the irrigation system, as well as all the piping and drippers that were in the plantations. Walking through the burnt plantation breaks the heart, but it's impossible not to be moved by the huge embrace we receive from all of Israel. All the kibbutzim in the area are sending us help, and people from all sectors and across the country are coming here to assist us. In the last 24 hours, I even got a phone call from one of our overseas customers who expressed solidarity and said how sorry he was to hear about it, friends and acquaintances keep calling to check on us and offer help. It's very touching, there's nothing like the people of Israel".

And what's next?

I believe we will be able to rehabilitate the plantation in a few days, but it's impossible to know the fate of the burnt trees. We'll have to patiently wait to see which trees survived and which will never grow again".

And one cannot help but ask—do you have any idea who caused the arson?

"We still don't know and the police are investigating all possibilities. The high likelihood is that it's terrorism, but it's unclear on what basis. Personally, I hope it is nationalistic, because if it's not, I will be very frustrated. I can't bear the thought that someone I know did this".