Turkey wildfires displaces over 1,700; kill 1 firefighter

ANKARA(Turkey): Wildfires that engulfed Turkey for weeks surrounded the country’s fourth-largest city, Bursa, causing more than 1,700 people to flee their homes and leaving one firefighter dead, Al Jazeera reported.

Fires in the forested mountains surrounding Bursa in northwest Turkey spread rapidly overnight on Sunday, causing a red glow over the city.

Dozens of severe wildfires have hit the country since late June with the government declaring two western provinces, Izmir and Bilecik, disaster areas on Friday.

Bursa governor’s office said in a statement on Sunday that 1,765 people had been safely evacuated from villages to the northeast as more than 1,900 firefighters battled the flames. Authorities said 500 rescue workers were also on the ground. The highway linking Bursa to the capital, Ankara, was closed as surrounding forests burned.

A firefighter died from a heart attack while on the job, the city’s mayor, Mustafa Bozbey, said in a statement, adding the flames scorched 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) around the city, as per Al Jazeera.

Orhan Saribal, an opposition parliamentarian for the province, described the scene as “an apocalypse”, Al Jazeera quoted.

Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said fire crews across the country battled 84 separate blazes. The country’s northwest is under the greatest threat, including Karabuk, where wildfires have burned since Tuesday, he said.

Unusually high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds have been fuelling the wildfires.

Yumakli said 2,000 firefighters are struggling to battle the wildfire in the area with the help of six firefighting planes and four helicopters.

“We are going through risky times. This does not seem likely to end in two or three days,” Yumakli said, referring to the heatwave, as per Al Jazeera.

The General Directorate of Meteorology said Turkey recorded its highest ever temperature of 50.5 degrees Celsius in the southeastern Sirnak province on Friday. The highest temperatures for July were seen in 132 other locations.

The previous national record was set on August 15, 2023 in Saricakaya, Eskisehir, at 49.5C, Anadolu news agency reported.

At least 14 people have died in recent weeks, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers killed on Wednesday in a fire in Eskisehir in western part of the country.

Turkey Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said late on Saturday that prosecutors had investigated fires in 33 provinces since June 26, and legal action had been taken against 97 suspects, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)