ANKARA (Reuters) -Firefighters working to contain four separate wildfires in Turkey have contained one and partially contained another, Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said on Friday, adding efforts were under way to tackle two other blazes.
Three wildfires broke out in northwestern Turkey earlier this week: in the Eceabat district of Canakkale province, in the Goynuk district of Bolu province, and in Manisa province’s Gordes district.
A fourth started late on Thursday in the Karsiyaka district of the western coastal province of Izmir.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Yumakli said the fire in Canakkale was under control, while the Manisa blaze was partially contained. Efforts continued to battle the others.
“Meteorological data indicates there is a high risk for the next three days. We, as all our state institutions, are on high alert for these three days,” he told reporters, noting that high temperatures, low humidity and! strong winds added to risks.
He said the Canakkale blaze had been caused by a roadside electricity pole. It was not yet clear what caused the others.
Turkish broadcasters showed footage of flames engulfing tracts of land with black smoke billowing above forests and cities.
The governors of Canakkale and Bolu provinces said several neighbourhoods or villages had been evacuated as a precaution, but that there was no immediate threat to residential areas.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Daren Butler, Miral Fahmy and Kevin Liffey)
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