Helicopters and planes joined hundreds of firefighters on the ground to contain a forest fire that broke out on the historic Gallipoli peninsula in western Turkey’s Çanakkale Monday.
The fire first started in the forestland between the villages of Yalova and Kumköy in the Eceabat district due to still unspecified reason at around 3 p.m. local time. It soon spread due to windy conditions and flames could be seen from Çanakkale city center and the larger part of the peninsula.
“A very large part of our helicopter fleet is there. We are currently responding to the fire with 20 helicopters, two amphibious aircraft, 107 water tenders, seven bulldozers and 400 personnel,” Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli told reporters in the western province of Manisa.
Pakdemirli later canceled his program in the city and departed for Çanakkale.
“It seems that so far we have lost an area of nearly 300 hectares,” Pakdemirli said after he examined the region from a helicopter.
After Yalova, where around 300 people live, Kumköy and Bigalı villages were also evacuated, Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported.
Çanakkale Strait was also closed to maritime traffic as efforts to contain the fire continued from the sea.
Çanakkale Governor Ilhami Aktaş said teams, both from air and land, were putting forth a great effort to contain the flames, while he also cited the effect of the strong wind in the region.
“There are two villages in the region, the flames are sometimes taking that direction but there is no big threat at the moment,” Aktaş told Anadolu Agency (AA). The fire has been held in a certain area, he added.
No casualties or injuries have been reported yet.
Aktaş said teams were doing everything necessary to prevent the blaze from advancing toward the historic site.
Every year, the peninsula attracts many visitors paying homage to the fallen of the Gallipoli Campaign where the invading Allied forces and the Ottoman forces both suffered huge losses during World War I.
The campaign, although catastrophic for the Turkish side, ultimately made history as the last great victory of the ailing empire and in a way, the first step toward the birth of a new nation: the Republic of Turkey. It was this chapter of the war where the republic’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk proved his mettle as a leader to create a new Turkey from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.
The blaze was not near the cemeteries of the fallen soldiers.
