Wildfires contained in northwestern Turkey, 10,000 acres destroyed

Wildfires that erupted in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday were contained on their third day after destroying 4,080 hectares (around 10,000 acres) of land, Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı has announced.

The minister said seven houses and 29 barns were damaged in the fires, which led to the evacuation of 11 villages in Çanakkale province.

The minister said as of Thursday, there are no fires in Turkey that have not been contained.

The wildfires broke out in the Damyeri neighborhood of Çanakkale at noon on Tuesday. The cause of the fires is currently unknown.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 97 people have been treated for smoke inhalation and 37 of them still remain hospitalized.

Eight firefighting planes, 26 helicopters and 693 water trucks took part in the firefighting efforts.

Maritime traffic from the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, which was halted due to the wildfires, was allowed to travel in one direction on Thursday, according to Turkey’s transportation ministry.

Turkey has been trying to modernize its emergency response service after being gripped by hugely destructive fires along its southern and western coasts in 2021.

Those flames scorched more than 200,000 hectares (nearly 50,000 acres) of pine forest and claimed at least nine lives.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came under intense criticism for his response to the disaster at the time.