A huge wildfire in Turkey‘s northwestern province of Sakarya, which has spread to the neighbouring province of Bilecik, unleashed an impressive fire tornado due to heat: an unusual phenomenon caused by high temperatures and air currents, as firefighting crews continue to battle the blaze in this and other regions of the country.
Turkish media reported that the fire broke out on 20 July in the Geyve district of Sakarya, from where it spread to Osmaneli in the neighbouring province of Bilecik, forcing the evacuation of at least four villages in the latter province and two others in Sakarya, as well as the closure of traffic in both directions on the highway connecting the two Turkish provinces. According to the Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) a total of six aircraft, 12 helicopters, 195 vehicles and 871 staff are battling to stop the advance of the fire.
Recorded video footage showed the formation amid the flames of a vortex-shaped column rising into the sky, a rare phenomenon called a fire whirl, fire devil or fire tornado. The images were shared by Turkey’s Director General of Forestry, Bekir Karacabey, as an example of the magnitude and danger of the fire.
Meanwhile, another forest fire that broke out at around 8:30 this morning in a forest area in the neighbouring province of Eskişehir in northwestern Turkey continues to burn out of control despite the intervention of numerous firefighting teams, supported from the air by four helicopters and a plane. The wildfire started for unknown reasons in a forest between the villages of Fethiye and Büyük Yayla, in the south of the province, and has already reduced much of the forest to ashes.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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