Turkey battles wildfire in Marmaris for third day

• The blaze is being blamed on arson by the authorities.
• 29 people have been impacted by the flames, with two receiving medical attention in a hospital.
• Forestry and Agriculture Minister warned media that “high temperatures and wind” will continue.

In the same region as last year’s worst flames in the nation’s history, Turkish firemen were battling a fire for a third day on Friday close to the Aegean beach resort of Marmaris.

As the fire raged across the woodlands in the sparsely populated area, Reuters video showed smoke billowing from hills. Throughout the day, helicopters and planes dropped water on the flames.

In an effort to put out the fire, which broke out about 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday and affected more than 8,400 acres (3,400 hectares) of land, police assisted firemen with water cannon trucks.

On duty Friday to assist with the firefighting effort were more than 1,100 vehicles, 61 helicopters, and 13 aircraft.

The blaze is being blamed on arson by the authorities. Experts warned last year that, regardless of how fires are started, the human-made climate catastrophe is lengthening and intensifying heatwave and wildfire seasons over portions of the Mediterranean.

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Suleyman Soylu, the interior minister for Turkey, reported that one person had been apprehended and had admitted to lighting the woodland on fire out of aggravation over family matters. He was discovered in the jungle carrying two gasoline cans, according to the state-run news agency Anadolu.

High winds in the area have fuelled the fire, and on Friday, Forestry and Agriculture Minister Vahit Kirisci warned media that “high temperatures and wind as of this afternoon” would continue.

A spokeswoman for the Mugla Province forest directorate told journalists on Friday, “We are up against the clock before the anticipated wind.”

Late on Thursday, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that 29 people had been impacted by the flames, with two of those people still receiving medical attention in a hospital. According to officials, 274 individuals were evacuated as a precaution.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System, Turkey was the nation most severely impacted by the Mediterranean fires that ravaged more than 206,000 hectares of its land last year.

The administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came under scrutiny for not having enough planes and helicopters to combat the fires in 2021.

The leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, claimed on Wednesday that the administration was “incompetent” and hadn’t improved readiness un the wake of last year’s fires.

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