Israel is in a state of "shock and heartbreak" after the nation's worst ever fire disaster killed at least 40 people near the northern city of Haifa, a local journalist told SBS.
The inferno - which began in forests in the Carmel region - has prompted the country to evacuate thousands of people and call for international help to put out the blaze.
Greece, Cyprus, France and Turkey are sending assistance, Ben Hartman of the Jerusalem Post told SBS.
There was a general feeling that Israel is totally unequipped to deal with the catastrophe, Mr Hartman said. The fires had also intensified fears of a rocket attack from nearby Lebanon, which would be catastrophic given the widespread dry conditions.
Israel has experienced an abnormally long summer and is long overdue for the beginning of its rainy season - which usually starts in Novermber.
It is not yet known what ignited the blaze, but media reports said it had begun in three locations simultaneously.
Turkey's assistance came as a surprise, as the country all but severed diplomatic ties with Israel after its navy killed nine Turkish activists taking aid to the Gaza strip earlier this year.
Death toll uncertain
Israel's ambulance service, Magen David Adom, initially said about 40 people had been killed, but later said they could confirm the deaths only of 22 people, with the others regarded as "missing".
A bus carrying prison guards had been caught in the flames, killing all on board, Mr Hartman and police sources said.
"All those who were killed were on board the bus. They were all prison guards," a police source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Officials said hundreds of firefighters on the ground and in the air were trying to extinguish the fire, which broke out shortly before midday and incinerated hundreds of hectares of land.
As night fell and the fire was still raging out of control, Israel's fire service issued an appeal for all the firefighters in the country - about 1500 - to report to the scene to fight the inferno.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to Haifa, where army and police commanders were working with representatives from the local Jewish, Arab and Druze communities on plans to combat the fires.
Awful images
Gruesome footage showed the gutted remains of a bus, while other images showed charred corpses lying on the ground, their clothes burnt off and only their boots visible.
Fireman Dudu Vanunu told Channel Two television he saw flames consume the bus.
"Anyone who's ever seen a firestorm will know they could not survive it. They had no protection; they just fell to the road and burned alive," he said.
The Zaka organisation, which recovers human remains in accordance with Jewish religious law, put out a call for all its volunteers to report to the area.
Prison evacuated
Police said they had evacuated the Damon prison, which mainly houses Palestinian security prisoners and those found in Israel without permits.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said about 20 families from the Arab village of Ussafiya had been evacuated from their homes as flames swept through the pine forest covering the Carmel hill ridge, one of Israel's most popular beauty spots.
Yoram Levy, a spokesman for the Israeli Fire and Rescue Commission, said emergency workers had evacuated the nearby Beit Oren Kibbutz and a luxury hotel in the path of the fire.
At 4.30pm (0130 AEDT Friday) he said the blaze was still burning out of control.
"It's not getting better, and it's getting dark," he told AFP.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
"We think that it might be an accident that started from one of the garbage points that was burning," Levy told AFP.
Rosenfeld said police were looking into the possibility that arsonists started the blaze, but he cautioned it was "too early to say yet" if that was the cause.
Officials said the fire began about 11.30am (0930 GMT) and was still burning seven hours later.
Palestinians offer condolences
Israeli President Shimon Peres issued a statement offering his condolences and said Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad had also extended his sympathies during a phone call.
"Fayyad conveyed to President Peres the condolences of the Palestinian people to the Israeli people over the tragedy," the statement said.
After a long, dry summer Israel is experiencing an unusually warm and dry autumn.
The Israel Meteorological Service listed the midday temperature in the Haifa area on Thursday as 31 degrees Celsius, with winds reaching 30 km/h.
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