Forester Nurit Hibsher says she’s never seen a fire like the one that blazed through the Jerusalem hills for three days in August. It's got her worried.

“In the 10 years I have been a forester, I don’t remember fires like this. It’s something really unusual,” admits Nurit Hibsher, head of forestry for the central region at the Keren Kayameth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF).

Hibsher was standing in Sataf Forest, west of Jerusalem less than a week after one of the largest wildfires in Israel’s history ripped through the area, destroying 6,200 acres of woodlands in the Judean Hills.

It took some 1,500 firefighters working for 52 hours to finally put out the blazes, which are reported to have been set deliberately in three different locations.

Sataf is usually an idyllic site with springs and ponds, picnic and play areas, hiking and cycling trails. Pine, cypress, eucalyptus, oak, pistachio, carob, and other vegetation grow here, along with grapevines, olive, and fig trees planted on agricultural terraces first built 1,000 years ago.

But today, the scene is painful. Smoke lingers in the air, waiting to be washed away by winter rains that are still some way off. Half-green, half-brown trees and shrubs stand in silent testimony to the unpredictable path of the wind-whipped flames and the bravery of those who battled them.

“I was not here during the fires; I wanted to let the firefighters do their job,” says Hibsher, whose job is to control the growth, composition, health, and quality of KKL-JNF forests in the central region, including Sataf.

“Now, a few days later, to look at the damage is really hard. I know how much effort we invested here in Sataf for the past 40 years, and in other areas much longer.”