Reuters. Firefighters and fire trucks were battling flames as they attempted to contain a wildfire in southwest Turkey that forced evacuations on Wednesday (July 29).
The fire was burning over a wide area while strong winds kept changing direction, said Mugla Governor Idris Akbiyik, adding that more than 600 people had been evacuated from around 300 homes.
The fire, which broke out on agricultural land and spread to the forest early on Wednesday, forced the precautionary evacuation of a hospital on Wednesday earlier in the day.
Five planes and 18 helicopters were working to contain the wildfire throughout the day, Akbiyik said. They usually cease operations after sunset.
Global warming is giving the Mediterranean region hotter, drier summers, scientists say, with wildfires surging each year. Although heatwaves and wildfires are common in the region, their impact on human life along with the scale of destruction have become more pronounced in recent years due to shifting weather patterns.
