Istanbul
AP
–
A wildfire that involved turkeys for weeks threatened the country’s fourth-largest city early Sunday, causing more than 1,700 people to flee the home and kill firefighters.
Meanwhile, firefighters from other parts of the region, including Greece, Bulgaria and Montenegro, were also fighting flames that were fed by unusually high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds.
Overnight fires rapidly spread across the forested mountains surrounding Bursa in northwestern Turkey, with red glows glowing over the red sky above the eastern outskirts of the city. Dozens of harsh wildfires have hit the country every day since late June, with the government declared two western states of the disaster area, Izmir and Bilesic on Friday.
In a statement Sunday, the Governor’s Office said 1,765 people were safely evacuated northeast of the village as more than 1,900 firefighters fought the flames. The highway linking Bursa to the capital Ankara was closed as the surrounding forests were burned.
Mayor Mustafa Bozbay said in a statement that a firefighter died of a heart attack while he was working, adding that the flames had burned 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) in the city.
Orhan Salivar, a state opposition council member, described the scene as an “apocalypse.”
By morning, reducing the wind provided firefighters with rest. Firefighters continued their efforts to fight the flames. However, television footage revealed the ashes landscapes where farms and pine forests had previously stood.
Forest Minister Ibrahim Yumakuri said firefighters across the country faced 84 separate flames on Saturday. The country’s northwest has been under the biggest threat since Tuesday, including Karabuk, where wildfires have been burning, he said.
Unseasonably high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds fuel wildfires.
The Weather Directorate said turkey recorded a high of 50.5 degrees Celsius (122.9 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southeastern Sirnak province on Friday. He said highs in July were seen in 132 other locations.
Fourteen people have died in recent weeks, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers killed on Wednesday in a fire in Eckisehill, western Turkey.
Justice Minister Irmaz Tank said late Saturday that prosecutors have investigated fires in 33 states since June 26th, with legal action being taken against 97 suspects.
In Greece, firefighters fought active wildfires on the southwestern part of the country and on Sunday, following the blazes that scorched the outskirts of Kurineli, outside North Athens, on Saturday. High temperatures reaching 38°C (100°F) or higher, while slightly lessening the wind, they persist in most of the country.
At Clioneri, 27 residents were evacuated overnight with police assistance after initially ignoring the warning. Authorities urged the public to comply with evacuation orders and warned that resistance would put both civilians and rescuers at risk.
Firefighters reported three people hospitalized due to breathing problems and one firefighter who was treated for burns at a military hospital. On Evia Island, where another fire is currently under control, media reports show that numerous animals have died in the barn.
Like the southern Bulgaria border with Greece and Turkey, and the frontier of Western Serbia, firefighters fought wildfires as the government declared the worst state disaster zone. Almost half of the country’s residents have been issued the highest level of Code Red warning.
National Fire Force Chief Alexander Zurtov told reporters there were 236 wildfires on fire. The government had sought help from EU partners, he added, and aircraft were expected later on Sunday from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Hungary and Sweden.
Overnight flames have led firefighters to retreat in the Strumyani region of the southwestern region. They were reinforced by soldiers on Sunday. Dozens of people fled homes in the Trang region of the western region as flames threatened villages near the Serbian border.
