The ongoing heat and dry weather that typifies summer in Israel has turned into tragedy for residents of a home in Havat Gilad, in the Binyamin region of Israel. According to a report by the Tazpit news agency, Arabs allegedly set fire to a house in the neighborhood. The house was badly damaged, the report said.

Large numbers of firefighters arrived to put the fire out. They were able to bring the fire under control, and put the blaze out.

Initial investigations indicated that arson was the cause, most likely a fire set by local Arabs. Evidence at the scene showed that several individuals broke into the house, breaking a window. Furniture was broken, as were mirrors and other items in the house.

A spokesperson for the fire department told Arutz Sheva that four firefighting crews were needed to douse the blaze. “There was fear that the roof was going to fall in,” the spokesperson said. “We were able to bring the fire under control quickly and prevented the spread of the blaze to other homes. The house was badly damaged,” he said.

Meanwhile, three other fires broke out in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon, with at least one of them likely a case of arson. Three firefighting crews were needed to put out a blaze in an open area in the Gilo neighborhood, while a second fire raged in an open area in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood. The third fire, in the Talpiot industrial zone, was deemed suspicious after several individuals were seen fleeing the scene of the fire. Several vehicles were damaged in that fire.

In the past two days, firefighters in Jerusalem have found themselves battling numerous blazes, and officials said that the vast majority were suspicious.