Forest fire in resort town Datça under control

MUĞLA

A forest fire that broke out on July 13 in a red pine forest in the Aegean province of Muğla’s Datça district has been brought under control, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Vahit Kirişçi has announced.

“700 hectares of land, 300 of which are forest and 400 agricultural, were affected by the fire and the cooling efforts continue” Kirişci said.

Kirişçi stated that the fire was started due to the electrical transformer, according to the first investigations.

3,523 people from 450 houses were evacuated as a precaution and there were no casualties, the minister added.

“10 firefighting aircraft, 20 helicopters, 179 firefighting trucks, 61 construction equipment and 1,596 personnel were dispatched to the region,” said Bekir Karacabey, the head of the General Directorate of Forestry.

The extinguishing efforts were supported by military units, fire extinguishers of the surrounding sites, and concrete mixers of some construction companies.

The highway between Datça and Palamutbükü region was closed to traffic as a precaution, as the flames moved towards the coast.

Meanwhile, a separate fire broke out yesterday in a maquis shrubland in the western province of İzmir’s Urla district.

“The fire that broke out in the maquis shrubland between Urla and Alaçatı was brought under control with the intervention of our forest and firefighting teams,” said İzmir Mayor Tunç Soyer on his Twitter account.