Türkiye quells four wildfires as Bursa fire rages on

BURSA

Wildfires have been successfully contained in four out of five affected cities, as efforts continue to subdue persistent blazes in the northwestern province of Bursa, the Turkish forestry minister said on July 29. 

“There is currently only one active wildfire in our country — the Harmancık fire in Bursa. Our intervention continues with five planes, 30 helicopters and 855 land vehicles,” Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı told reporters.

For days, Türkiye has been grappling with wildfires in the northern city of Karabük, the southern province of Antalya and two distinct areas of Bursa, which have scorched vast swathes of land and displaced thousands of residents.

The fires in Karabük, Antalya and Bursa’s Kestel district have been contained, but efforts to control the fire in Harmancık were ongoing on July 29.

“I believe we will have good news to share with the public in the coming hours,” Yumaklı added.

A total of 55 wildfires erupted across the country in the past 24 hours, the minister said, stressing that firefighters, volunteers and locals were fully mobilized in the fight against the blazes.

Meanwhile, the Istanbul Governor’s Office announced a temporary ban on the sale and use of fireworks, flares, torches and other incendiary or explosive materials from July 29 to Oct. 28.

The decision followed a wildfire on July 28 in a forested area of Istanbul’s Beykoz district, caused by a flare.

In a separate statement, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said that 38 individuals were arrested so far this summer in connection with negligence or arson linked to wildfires.

One of those arrested — a man who admitted to starting the fire in Bursa — has sparked public outrage. The suspect, a former military officer expelled in 2021 over links to the FETÖ terrorist organization, confessed to setting trees on fire using gasoline.

Unseasonably high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds have been fueling the wildfires. Türkiye and other parts of the eastern Mediterranean are experiencing record-breaking heat waves. The government had earlier declared disaster areas in two western provinces, İzmir and Bilecik.