A new forest fire broke out in the last few hours in the province of Izmir on Turkey’s west coast, affecting the district of Çeşme, a peninsula popular as a local tourist destination, where the wildfire has spread out of control into a wooded area and threatens residential areas.
As reported by Turkish daily Hürriyet, the fire broke out shortly after noon, at around 13:30 local time (11:30 CET) in an area of fields near the Ildır district in the north of the peninsula, from where the flames quickly spread to an area of forest and scrubland due to the dryness of the terrain – temperatures in the region are approaching 37 ºC – and the wind, which was gusting north at over 50 kilometres per hour today.
After the emergency services were alerted, several teams of firefighters and the Izmir Regional Forestry Directorate were immediately dispatched to the region, where – according to Turkish media – ground and air efforts are continuing to contain the fire, supported by teams of volunteers made up of local residents, who are trying to prevent the flames from reaching residential areas.
A total of 4 aeroplanes, 5 helicopters, 22 fire fighting vehicles, 7 water tankers and 3 bulldozers belonging to the Izmir Regional Forestry Directorate are involved in the fire fighting efforts. Since last Friday, 342 wildfires have broken out across Turkey, six of which have not yet been brought under control and are still burning.
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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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