Firefighters battled a massive wildfire in Turkey’s Aegean city of Izmir for a third day after hundreds of residents in nearby villages were evacuated.
According to a statement from the fire department, they have managed to partially beat back the blaze that has threatened the port city for the past three days, although fires were still burning in nearby forests. In addition, firefighters from other Turkish cities were sent as reinforcements and the army was mobilised.
The fire started on Thursday and quickly spread to residential areas under winds blowing at 50 kilometres (30 miles) per hour. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 900 residents in the five affected neighbourhood’s were evacuated Friday night in Izmir. He also said about 1,600 hectares (3,900 acres) had been affected, adding the terrain made it difficult to extinguish the fire when it started.
Journalists said they saw the charred remains of several buildings and vehicles in the industrial area, while gray smoke flew into the sky. Pine trees were also affected by the fire. To top it all off, villages remained empty for safety reasons, except for a handful of volunteers who left food and water for the animals living in the forest.
Five other fires continue to rage in forested areas in other Turkish cities, including northwestern Bolu and Aydin in the west. New fires broke out again in Izmir late Saturday night, engulfing several neighbourhoods including Bayindir and the popular resort of Cesme, local mayor Cemil Tugay said on social media.
Climate change is making extreme weather conditions, including heat waves, more likely, longer and more intense, increasing the risk of wildfires. In June, for example, a fire that broke out in Mardin in southeastern Turkey killed 15 people.
Observers say Turkey has made progress since suffering the worst fires in its history in 2021. Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government faced criticism for failing to mobilise due to a shortage of planes and helicopters, resulting in Azerbaijan sending a water bomber plane, according to the Turkish presidency.
