Turkey combats forest fires amid nationwide heat wave: report

As blazing flames continue ravaging the southeastern Hatay and Mersin provinces and Çanakkale in Türkiye’s northwest, dedicated teams have been dispatched to intervene and bring the fires under control that have been raging for the second day, Daily Sabah reported on Monday.

The fires, caused by a prevalent heat wave in the country’s south and west, also pose a risk of increasing the temperatures and triggering new blazes.

According to local media reports, the fire that engulfed a vast area in Hatay’s Belen district started at around 2 p.m. local time (11 a.m. GMT) on Sunday when two individuals in the Soğukoluk neighborhood sparked the flames while attempting to clear reeds in their garden.

With the light of day, planes and other helicopters also participated in the air intervention, which continued with a night vision helicopter. Some 450 personnel of the General Directorate of Forestry, civil servants in other public institutions and organizations, and the locals in the region continue to work on the second day to extinguish the fire.

The fire, which broke out in Gülnar’s Kavakoluğu neighborhood on Sunday, spread to Korucuk, Çavuşlar and Tepe neighborhoods, driven by strong winds. The response continued throughout the night, evacuating 373 homes, with four houses already reduced to ashes, as reported by the private NTV broadcaster early Monday.

TM/PR