Blaze near power plant in southwestern Turkey contained

MUĞLA

A massive blaze that reached the edge of a power plant in Turkey’s southwestern Muğla province was contained early on Aug. 5, authorities said.

The blaze reached the perimeter of the Kemerköy Thermal Power Plant in Muğla’s Milas district late on Wednesday, prompting the evacuation of all personnel as well as people living in nearby areas.

Firefighters worked through the night to contain the blaze and started a cooling process to ensure it does not reignite, according to officials.

Turkey has taken all necessary precautions to prevent any loss of life at the scene of a fire near the plant, the country’s communications director said early Thursday.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Fahrettin Altun said all personnel at the Kemerköy Thermal Power Plant in Türkevleri district have been evacuated as part of safety measures.

Emergency response teams continue to take all necessary safety measures with inspection and cooling processes at the power plant site, he added. Altun said the teams will continue cooling work from air and land in the region in the morning.The blaze has reached the perimeter of the plant, with efforts to douse the fire being hindered by strong winds in the region.

Flammable and explosive materials have also been removed from the plant.

Water tankers and fire trucks have been stationed at the plant in case the fire spreads further towards the main building.

More than 180 wildfires have scorched huge swathes of forest and killed eight people since breaking out along almost the entire perimeter of Turkey’s Aegean and Mediterranean coasts.

The European Union’s satellite monitoring service said their "radiative power" - a measure of the fires’ intensity - "has reached unprecedented values in the entire dataset, which goes back to 2003".

Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said temperatures in the Aegean city of Marmaris reached an all-time record of 45.5 degrees Celsius (114 degrees Farenheit) this week.

"We are fighting a very serious war," the minister told reporters. "I urge everyone to be patient."