Eight dead as wildfires sweep Turkey, force tourists to flee beach resorts – “The animals are on fire”

By Gul Tuysuz and Arwa Damon
1 August 2021

MANAVGAT, Turkey (CNN) – In the small village of Kacarlar, on Turkey’s southern coast, farmers are facing apocalyptic scenes as wildfires continue to sweep the country.

“The animals are on fire,” 56-year-old resident, Muzeyyan Kacar, told CNN. “Everything is going to burn. Our land, our animals, and our house. What else do we have anyway?

“Hundreds of miles west, in the tourist hotspot of Bodrum, more than 1,000 people were evacuated by boat on both Sunday and Saturday to escape the wildfires.

At least eight people have died in more than one hundred blazes that broke out earlier this week, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. The flames have been fueled by scorching summer temperatures and conditions that experts say have been worsened by climate change.

Seven people were killed in the fires in Manavgat, Antalya Province, and the eighth victim died in Marmaris, Anadolu reported. The latest victims include a Turkish-German couple who were found in a house, it said.

Two firefighters died battling the blazes on Saturday, according to the Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.

The ministry said that 111 fires have burned across the country since Wednesday, while six fires are still burning in three different cities as of Sunday.

Evacuation by sea

On Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, more than 1,100 people were evacuated from the tourist resort of Bodrum by sea on Sunday for the second-straight day.

“We helped the evacuation of 1,140 people by twelve boats,” Orhan Dinc, the president of the Bodrum Maritime Chamber, told CNN.

“We did evacuation by boats yesterday as well, but I have never witnessed something similar before in this region. This is the first time,” he said.

Dinc said that while roads remain open and evacuations continue by land, evacuation by sea helps keep roads clear for fire trucks and ambulances.

Bodrum also evacuated 1,100 people using more than 20 boats on Saturday, the city’s Mayor Ahmet Aras said. Bodrum is a popular destination for both Turkish and foreign tourists. […]

Namet Atik, a 37-year-old farmer from a neighboring village, said that he came to Kacarlar to help. “Whatever this village needs … we are here for them,” he told CNN.

“We get them water, our cars, tractors, saws,” he added. “We are forest villagers. Our livelihood is the forest. If this fire runs, there is no return.”

Around 4,000 personnel, along with hundreds of emergency vehicles, have been deployed by the government to help fight the flames this week.

At least 77 houses have been damaged in the province of Antalya, and more than 2,000 farm animals have died, Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Bekir Pakdemirli, told journalists on Thursday. [more]

‘The animals are on fire,’ say devastated farmers as wildfires sweep Turkey

Tourists, villagers flee as wildfires ravage Turkish resorts

By Mehmet Guzel and Zeynep Bilginsoy
1 August 2021

MAZIKOY, Turkey (AP) – Wildfires raged near Turkey’s holiday beach destinations of Antalya and Mugla and in the surrounding countryside for a fifth day Sunday as the discovery of more bodies raised the death toll to eight while villagers lost their homes and animals. Residents and tourists fled the danger in small boats while the coast guard and two navy ships waited out at sea in case a bigger evacuation was needed.

Fires also enveloped Mugla province’s Mazikoy, and villagers who evacuated were devastated.

Farmer Nurten Almaz said she lost everything. “I feel so much pain, like I lost a child,” she said. The 63-year-old woman lost her animals and her home as well as “one century of people’s labor.” She called for the death penalty for people who may have caused the fire.

Residents had to flee nearby Cokertme village as flames neared. Some got on boats and others left by cars as the fire got closer and closer. In one video, firetrucks and cars were rushing to escape fire raging on all sides. After nightfall, the village looked apocalyptic from a distance, with flames taking over the dark hills.

Bodrum mayor Ahmet Aras said Sunday evening that people experienced “hell” near Cokertme and Mazi as they drove away from the fire. He said the blaze could not be stopped and hoped to protect residential areas but said it was too late for the trees.

The area was engulfed by Sunday night, Turkish broadcasters said. Reporters said they had to get hurry to safety as the fire intensified with strong winds. Officials said precautions were being taken to protect two thermic power plants in the vicinity and at present the winds were blowing away from the plants.

Watching from out in the Mediterranean Sea, the area looked a bright orange.

As residents of villages around Marmaris pleaded for more help on social media, people boarded small boats carrying suitcases. Others waited anxiously to see if the fire would come down to the shore.

High temperatures and strong winds were making matters worse. Antalya registered 42 degrees Celsius (over 107 degrees Fahrenheit), about 5 to 6 degrees C higher than seasonal averages.

Earlier Sunday, police water cannons, usually used to control riots, helped helicopters and fire trucks in Mugla’s popular district of Bodrum to fight fires. Turkish television showed fires had reignited after being extinguished earlier, with flame and smoke approaching a village.

Social media videos showed tourists in Bodrum scampering down streets rolling their luggage to escape the nearby flames.

The health minister, Fahrettin Koca, said at least 27 people affected by the fires were still receiving treatment in hospitals while hundreds of others had been released.

The minister of forestry and agriculture, Bekir Pakdemirli, said 117 wildfires were “under control” across Turkey while eight continued. His tweets showed that since Wednesday, wildfires had ignited in 32 provinces.

While Turkish authorities say they are investigating whether the fires may have started as “sabotage” by outlawed Kurdish militants, experts mostly point to climate change along with accidents caused by people. Erdogan said one of the fires was started by children.

A heat wave across southern Europe, fed by hot air from North Africa, has led to wildfires across the Mediterranean, including on the Italian island of Sicily and in western Greece, where some residents had to be evacuated by boat to escape the flames. [more]

Tourists, villagers flee as wildfires ravage Turkish resorts