By ANDREW WILKS, Associated Press
ISTANBUL (AP) — New wildfires broke out on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast Friday, as the government declared two western provinces in the country to be disaster zones.
Images showed flames and smoke billowing into the sky close to high-rise apartment buildings in Antalya, where local and foreign visitors flock during the summer months.
Homes were evacuated in the city center and the outlying district of Aksu as the fire advanced, privately owned news agency DHA reported. Firefighters struggled to extinguish the blazes before strong winds could spread the fire, which closed a major coastal road.
Further along the coast, homes in the city of Manavgat were also threatened.
Local residents with hoses and buckets rushed to assist firefighters as water-dropping helicopters and planes also battled the flames. Police water cannons and municipal water trucks were also enlisted in the firefighting efforts.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Friday that Izmir and Bilecik provinces had been declared “disaster areas affecting public life,” one step below the most serious level of emergency.
Between June 27 and Thursday, residents from 120 neighborhoods nationwide were evacuated, Yerlikaya added, and more than 12,000 workers under the ministry’s authority, such as police and rescue staff, had fought the fires.
In a social media post, the minister said 311 homes had been destroyed or seriously damaged during the monthlong blazes and 85 temporary housing units were set up across three western provinces for those made homeless.
Turkey has faced widespread outbreaks of forest fires since late June. Thirteen people have died, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers killed Wednesday in a fire in Eskisehir, western Turkey. The funerals for the 10 were on Thursday.
Temperatures above seasonal norms have been exacerbated by strong winds and dry conditions, resulting in dozens of wildfires.
East of Antalya, fires broke out in Adana and Mersin on Friday. Elsewhere in the country, firefighters continued battling blazes in Eskisehir and nearby Karabuk that have been raging for several days.
The heat wave in the eastern Mediterranean region saw 1,000 firefighters and soldiers battle flames in Albania as temperatures reached 42 C (107 F).
In the Albanian city of Elbasan, firefighters have been combating a weeklong blaze in the country’s central mountain forests. Fires have also broke out near the southern border with Greece.
Llazar Semini contributed to this report from Tirana, Albania.