Firefighter dies as forest fire rages in Turkey

Istanbul, July 28 (IANS) One firefighter died as a forest fire in Turkey's northwestern Bursa province continued to spread due to extreme weather conditions, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said.

According to Uraloglu, the firefighter had a heart attack while battling against the fire and then died at the hospital on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, according to Sozcu Daily, two forest officers suffered carbon monoxide poisoning during the blaze.

The fire, which broke out in two locations in Bursa on Saturday, rapidly expanded to three districts overnight due to extreme heat and strong winds. Temperatures reached 38 degrees Celsius in Bursa on Sunday, with forecasts predicting a rise to 39 degrees on Monday.

The Bursa Governor's Office announced that a total of 480 households and 1,765 residents had been safely evacuated. Media reports said more than 100 hectares of land had been scorched.

Forest fires have broken out in various provinces since June 26. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said the public prosecutor has launched investigations into the incidents. "So far, 21 of the suspects taken into custody have been arrested, while judicial control measures have been imposed on 47 others," he said on social media platform X.

Earlier two major wildfires in northwestern and northern Turkey triggered mass evacuations, with strong winds pushing flames toward residential areas and trapping vehicles on engulfed roads, local authorities said.

On July 23, ten firefighters died and 14 others were injured when trying to extinguish a forest fire in Turkey’s central province of Eskisehir.

"We lost 10 lives, five forest workers and five Search and Rescue Association volunteers," Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on social media platform X.

--IANS

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