Two decares of forests destroyed by fire in Turkey’s Ayvalık

BALIKESİR

AA photo

A fire destroyed two decares of forests in the coastal district of Ayvalık in the Marmara province of Balıkesir on June 26, Doğan News Agency has reported. 
 
The fire is believed to have been started accidentally during a picnic, and gendarmerie forces have detained two people in relation to it. 

The incident occurred at around 2.30 p.m. local time in the Ayvalık Island Nature Park, which is among the protected coastal areas in Turkey. 

The fire is believed to have spread after a local man and his friend visiting from Istanbul tried to initiate a small fire to brew tea. 

Firefighters were dispatched to the area upon and managed to quench the fire without it spreading much further. 

The Balıkesir regional directorate of the Forestry Ministry has issued a statement regarding the fire, saying a probe has been opened. 

“The area from where the fire started is included in the part of Sarımsaklı [a town in Ayvalık] of Nature Park. Here the forest and registered houses of our citizens meet one another. Now the gendarmerie personnel have started the necessary investigation into two people who have caused the fire,” said regional directorate head Metin Kırcı.

“[The investigation] will clarify legally whether the fire was really started because of a fire that these two people lit to brew tea because of another reason. To combat the fire we used three street sprinklers, two water trucks, water trucks belonging to the municipality, and three fire brigade trucks,” Kırcı added.