Over 20 injured in forest fires in Turkey – thousands evacuated

By late Saturday afternoon, fires were still burning in five cities and provinces, including Turkey’s third-largest city of Izmir, according to state broadcaster TRT.

The broadcaster shows images of thick gray smoke over a wooded area in Izmir’s neighboring province of Manisa on the Aegean Sea.

The fire in the Karsiyaka district of Izmir has been going on for two days, and 21 people have been injured, says mayor Cemil Tugay on X. All the victims are receiving treatment, but none of them are seriously injured, Tugay points out. Among the injured are six fire constables and a police officer.

Fire in apartment building

There is no immediate danger of the forest fire in Izmir spreading to residential areas in the center of the city, adds the mayor.

In total, more than 3,970 residents in four provinces in western Turkey have been evacuated, the Turkish authorities said earlier Saturday.

Late Friday night, flames from a forest fire reached an apartment complex and an industrial area, triggering panic among residents, according to TRT.

During the night, 17 homes burned, and 105 houses and 44 workplaces were evacuated in Izmir, according to Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli.

High readiness

In the past week, 131 forest and brush fires have broken out in agricultural and forest areas in the west of the country, including in the cities of Izmir, Aydın, Bolu, Mugla and Manisa.

So far, the fire has affected 16 square kilometers of land in Izmir.

The authorities are on high alert until mid-September due to unusual weather conditions in the country, says Yumakli.

Six people have also been arrested on suspicion of sabotage related to the forest fires, according to the minister, who says two of them were arrested in Izmir and four in the northwestern city of Bolu.

It is not yet known how the forest fires started. Turkey has been affected by heat waves throughout the summer, which has led to a high risk of forest fires throughout the country. There are currently at least six forest fires in various areas in Turkey.