Jerusalem ( CNN ) -- Police who are investigating a major wildfire in northern Israel have detained a 14-year-old boy who admitted smoking a water pipe in the woods near his village , police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said . The wildfire killed at least 42 people and forced the evacuation of thousands of others before it was extinguished Monday , police said . The boy said he threw coals from his pipe in the woods , but then panicked and ran to school after the fire started . Two other teenagers who had been detained Monday have been released , Rosenfeld said . About 1,500 firefighters are still in the area and on standby , police spokesman Rosenfeld said . The fire , which broke out Thursday , forced the evacuations of about 17,000 people and scorched over 10,000 acres around Haifa , Israel 's third largest city , threatening businesses , tourism and one of Israel 's greenest regions , Mount Carmel . The developments came a day after the Israeli Cabinet approved a plan to speed aid to those affected . `` I do not want delays , '' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday . `` I do not want bureaucracy . I want processes to be shortened . I want quick solutions . I want all of the people -- within days -- to be able to return to their homes or to alternative housing , until the reconstruction work is finished . '' The Cabinet has approved a series of steps aimed at kick-starting a quick response for victims . The Finance Ministry will allocate 60 million shekels ( $ 16 million ) in aid to local communities affected by the fire . Netanyahu instructed that more funding be considered if necessary . The plan will include compensating local governments for damages `` in order to meet the costs of evacuating and absorbing populations , firefighting efforts , clean-up and dealing with infrastructures , '' according to a government statement . The government said Israel 's Housing Administration will station mobile structures in the communities to stand in for homes and public structures that were destroyed . A plan will also be formulated to restore animal and plant life affected in the Carmel Nature Reserve . Most of the 42 victims were cadets in Israel 's prison service who arrived Thursday to help evacuate 500 inmates from the Damon prison near Haifa . Among the dead , 40 were apparently burned alive when their bus , traveling along a narrow mountain road , was engulfed by the fast-moving blaze , the Jerusalem Post reported . Police said late Monday that a policewoman had died of her wounds , bringing the death toll to 42 . In an interview with the newspaper , a firefighter spokesman said the bus was gone in less than three minutes . `` The bus had no chance . They tried to escape but were burned alive , '' the spokesman said . `` It was a horrific scene . '' The Israeli military said the victims would be buried with full honors in military ceremonies . Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel about 50 miles north of Tel Aviv , Haifa 's metropolitan area is also host to historical sites that date to Biblical times . The fire has also threatened a sensitive ecological area near the Hai Bar nature reserve . Known as Mount Carmel 's `` Little Switzerland , '' the reserve is home to a wildlife preservation project that seeks to bring back native species mentioned in the Old Testament . CNN 's Paula Hancocks contributed to this report .
NEW : Israeli policewoman dies , bringing the toll to three . A year - old boy admits to throwing pipe bombs into the fire . The wildfire forces the evacuation of some 300 people . The Israeli government approves funding for victims .