03 July 2017•Update: 03 July 2017
By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun and Sebahatdin Zeyrek
ANKARA
The first days of July have ushered in a forest fire season in Turkish coastal provinces, with fire-fighting teams busy battling the blazes as the temperature in the region soars.
In the Aegean province of Izmir, 11 helicopters and four seaplanes are trying to control a blaze in the Menderes district which started on July 1 in shrub land and spread to forested areas.
Fire has so far claimed some 800 hectares of forestland in Izmir.
Forestry Directorate officials said the fire had been contained and fire-fighting teams were trying to extinguish it.
Stray sparks brought down a fire-fighting helicopter in Izmir on Sunday, injuring five members of its crew.
The southwestern province of Denizli has also been battling with forest fire.
The fire has spread across a forestry area of around 100 hectares in Saraykoy district of the province due to strong winds. Two neighborhoods in the district have been evacuated.
“The wind is blowing strongly right now. It poses danger occasionally,” Denizli Forest Regional Director Mustafa Korucu told Anadolu Agency.
“We are responding to the fire with three helicopters and two planes; 20 sprinklers are also joining the efforts.”
Canakkale, on the Aegean, is also battling a blaze that has so far claimed 30 hectares of forest.
In the Mediterranean province of Mersin, a fire in the Anamur district damaged around 150 hectares of pine.
Since the blaze began on July 1, three helicopters, 46 street sprinklers, and 20 water tankers have been on duty.
Another fire in the Mediterranean region, in Antalya’s Kas district, has been brought under control, according to Antalya’s Forestry Directorate head Mustafa Turk.
A helicopter remains on duty should the blaze return, he added.
