ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Firefighters battled to extinguish a wildfire in southwestern Turkey from the air and land on Wednesday, officials said, in scenes recalling blazes last year that devastated tens of thousands of hectares across the region.
Twenty helicopters and 14 planes were involved in tackling the blaze, said Forestry Minister Vahit Kirisci, who visited the area known as Bordubet near the Aegean coastal resort of Marmaris.
“Our teams’ intense efforts to bring the fire under control are continuing,” Kirisci said on Twitter. “Residential areas are not under threat.”
Aerial footage from local forestry authorities showed smoke billowing as the fires spread through the woodlands in the sparsely populated area, fanned by strong winds.
The Mugla provincial governor’s office said the blaze had begun around 8 pm (1700 GMT) on Tuesday and the cause was unclear.
Nearly 1,500 personnel and more than 360 vehicles were involved in the firefighting efforts, Turkey’s communications directorate said.
Last summer’s blazes were the most intense in Turkey on record, a European Union atmosphere monitor said last year, adding that the Mediterranean had become a wildfire hotspot.
President Tayyip Erdogan’s government was criticised as being unprepared to fight the fires last year. They responded by saying the fires were the worst in Turkey’s history.
Human-induced climate change is making heatwaves more likely and more severe, scientists say.
(Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)
