Emergency responders halt traffic after vehicle fire on Highway 1

Israel's Highway 1 eastbound was, briefly, entirely blocked off to traffic near the Shoresh Interchange outside Jerusalem on Monday after a vehicle went up in flames. Emergency responders, including the Israel Fire and Rescue Authority, arrived on the scene shortly after it began. No injuries were reported. Firefighters received a call at 10:46 a.m. on Monday morning about a fire on the highway, and dispatched four teams from the Beit Shemesh area to the scene. They immediately began working to extinguish the fire to prevent it from spreading to the woods nearby. During the initial stages of putting out the fire, all traffic was blocked. Soon afterward, however, police were able to open up one lane to traffic. At 12 p.m., Israel National Roads Company announced that the highway was fully opened to traffic, although the area is very congested.