ANKARA: Fire­fighters were battling to contain wildfires in five Turkish provinces on Saturday, the Forestry Minister said, though a blaze in the western Izmir region that broke out on Thursday had eased somewhat and residential areas were no longer at risk.

The blaze in Izmir’s Karsiyaka district was caused by a fire built by three people picnicking near an area of forest, Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told reporters, adding that authorities are close to identifying the people. “The intensity of the fire decreased, and there is no more risk to residential areas at the moment,” Yumakli said.

The fire was burning inside a valley which is hard to reach from land, he added. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that 900 residents in five affected districts were evacuated overnight in Izmir.

A witness said that thick smoke had turned the sky grey, with the smell of smoke hanging over the city, the third most-populated in Turkiye. “Currently, two planes and eleven helicopters are continuing to intervene,” said Agriculture and Forestry Ministry Ibrahim Yumakli, saying that residents of the city should not be “worried”. Around 1,600 hectares have been affected, the minister said.

Sixteen homes and 30 workplaces in an industrial site were burned, Izmir mayor Cemil Tugay said in a post on social media platform X, while the health ministry said on Friday that 78 people had been affected by the fire. Footage showed helicopters and planes continuing to drop water on the flames, as firefighters’ efforts to contain the fire from land went on.

Firefighters are also working to contain wildfires in the western provinces of Aydin and Manisa, as well as the northern provinces of Bolu and Karabuk, Forestry Mini­ster Yumakli said.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2024