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Five Israeli firefighters had been killed on the morning of the attack while commuting to work in the Gaza border area, and a fire chief had lost his son, who was in the Israel Defense Forces. Once he reached Israel, his EVP contact took him to the Nof Hagalil fire station outside of Nazareth, in the north. He knew he was doing the right thing by continuing to Israel, but he stepped back and let others get on a flight before him.

“You’d think that people run away from war zones, but it was amazing to see the amount of Israelis that were just trying to get home, to be there with their families, to support their country.” “I’ll never forget being in the airport in Istanbul,” he says. Hamblen’s flight to Israel was canceled, but he managed to get on a flight to Turkey. I put on a uniform every day to go help people in need.”Ī paramedic fire captain for almost 18 years, Hamblen’s varied experiences have included search and rescue special operations, such as swift water rescue and working with a regional SWAT team as a tactical medic. “And although this was scheduled just to be a training, I couldn’t find it in myself to turn around and not go help them. “I’d signed up for the program to go help them in their time of need,” he says.

But Hamblen never considered canceling his trip, which was sponsored by the Greater Tucson Firefighters Foundation Firefighters Beyond Borders project, which began 10 years ago. Friends and family members reached out, urging him to change his plans.

7, 2023, the day Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people, taking 240 men, women, and children hostage, and starting a war that is still being fought.Īs he was traveling, he had access to the news. He didn’t expect to be flying into a country at war. He expected to help his Israeli counterparts put out fires. Jeff Hamblen of Northwest Fire recently signed up to train with Israel’s Emergency Volunteer Project. Jeff Hamblen in body armor, preparing to visit Hamas attack sites in Israel.

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