Forest blazes hit Turkey’s west

MUĞLA – Doğan News Agency

Forestry and Water Affairs Minister Veysel Eroğlu said the burned areas would never be open for development. AA photo

Fires which broke out at 23 points across Turkey reduced hundreds of hectares of forests to ashes over the weekend.

Forestry and Water Affairs Minister Veysel Eroğlu said the burned areas would never be open for development and they would never be used for any other reasons negating the widely circulated rumors about the source of the fires in popular forested parts of the country.

Bayraktar said those areas of burned forests were required to be re-forested in a year according to the applicable law.

Nine helicopters and land forces worked to put out the fire in Muğla’s Fethiye and Dalaman districts. The cause of the fire has not yet been established.

“The fire has been brought under control in Dalaman. It is not possible to make comment on a possible torching issue. It may be caused of the electricity cables in the region. It is being researched,” Bayraktar said in Dalaman, which he visited along with three Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies.

Eroğlu also said Turkey owned 50 air and more than 100 land anti-fire forces.

“Intervening in the Dalaman fire on time saved the forests’ neighboring residential areas, we got off that possibility slightly,” he said.

There were fires in 23 points of the country as of Aug 18, Bayraktar said.

An area of 300 hectares in Dalaman and 70 hectares in Fethiye were burned down in a day.

The first fire started in Ören Village’s Dönen Neighborhood in Fethiye’s Kemer district at 11 p.m. and was fanned by strong winds.

The fire threatened the residential area and some nine houses were evacuated as a precaution forcing villagers to spend the night out of their houses.

Officials said nearly 70 hectares of forested areas were damaged in Fethiye.

The other big fire erupted in Muğla’s Dalaman at 1 a.m. the same night.

Fire in Turkey’s Syrian refugee tent kills 1 child

Meanwhile, a fire from an electrical device’s short circuit broke out on Sunday in a tent housing Syrian refugees in Hatay, killing one child and injuring two people.

A fire broke out on Sunday in a tent housing Syrian refugees in Hatay, killing one child and injuring two people.

After the event, the governership of Hatay stated that the fire broke out because of the short circuit on an electrical device.

The governorship opened a detailed investigation into the incident.