Firefighters contain wildfires in northwestern, central Türkiye

By Sinan Balcikoca and Cigdem Munibe Alyanak

CANAKKALE, Türkiye (AA) - Wildfires in northwestern and central Türkiye have been contained as of Thursday, according to the country's agriculture and forestry minister.

A blaze that started in the Damyeri region of northwestern Canakkale province on Tuesday is now under control as firefighters have took action from the land and air, Ibrahim Yumakli told reporters at a provincial forest fire management center.

"The fire was brought under control within 48 hours under the coordination of the forestry department and AFAD (Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency)," Yumakli said.

While seven people took injuries in the wildfire, none of those were life threatening, he said, adding that the flames had claimed no lives.

"These citizens had chronic illnesses. One of our volunteers suffered a non-life-threatening injury," he said.

Nearly 4,080 hectares (about 10,080 acres) of land were affected by the fire, including about 2,650 hectares of forest and 1,430 hectares of agricultural land and other areas, Yumakli underlined.

He said the fire teams responded to the blaze with 10 planes, 38 helicopters, and 790 land vehicles, adding that a total of 3,774 personnel were in the field.

A separate wildfire that broke out in the central province of Eskisehir late on Wednesday had also affected a forest area of nearly 260 hectares, he said.

"After an intense struggle, the fire there was also brought under control. As of now, there are no active fires in our country," he said.

Authorities are investigating what caused wildfire in Canakkale, Yumakli added.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz.