Western Turkey has evacuated over 4,000 residents triggered by a forest fire in its coastal province of Izmir, fanned by strong winds and hottest July.
Helicopters and water bombers were brought in to put out the fire, dry, hot, and windy weather conditions caused a dangerous series of fires. More than 1,000 firefighters were battling the blaze.
According to Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, 900 residents from five affected neighborhoods were evacuated overnight in Izmir, the country’s third-largest city.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) reported that 1,430 people were evacuated from Izmir, 1,475 from Manisa, 516 from Bolu, and 550 from Aydin after 131 wildfires broke out on agricultural and forested territory in these cities over the previous week.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli stated that 17 homes were destroyed overnight, and 105 houses and 44 workplaces were evacuated in Izmir’s Yamanlar neighborhood.
The fire began on 15th August in the Karsiyaka District, for unknown reasons. However, Six people have been detained over suspected sabotage relating to the wildfires, two of them in Izmir and four in the northwestern city of Bolu, according to Minister Yumakli.
Wildfires in the forests of Turkey are common in summer, particularly in the Mediterranean and Aegean Regions, however, May 2021 was the hottest May for over 50 years and followed a drought, made more likely by climate change.
Local broadcasters captured footage of flames burning vast areas of land, nearing apartment buildings and roads in Karsiyaka, and black smoke rising above forests and the city.
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