Tens of thousands have been forced to scarper as fierce wildfires tear through Türkiye, APA reports citing DAILY STAR.
Over the past three days, forest fires fuelled by strong winds have caused chaos in Izmir, a western region popular with Brit holidaymakers.
Incoming travellers have filmed the sky ablaze with an eerie orange glow above the city of 2.9 million, as massive smoke clouds rise from the parched rural landscape.
The severity of the fires has escalated throughout the week, driving over 50,000 people from their homes across İzmir and neighbouring provinces.
In Sakarya, two neighbourhoods have been abandoned by 230 residents, while seven villages in Bilecik are now ghost towns after 609 locals fled. The hardest hit is Izmir's Seferihisar district, where 42,300 people have evacuated an area predominantly made up of summer houses, according to CNN Türk.
Helicopter pilots and firefighters on the ground are joining forces with determined locals to salvage as much land and as many homes as they can. They're using tractors hauling water trailers and helicopters equipped with water carriers to douse the scorched hillsides.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumaklı reported that 342 forest fires have erupted since Friday.
Mr Yumaklı revealed on Monday that gale-force winds of 40-50 km/h had whipped up the blaze in Kuyucak and Doğanbey areas of Izmir overnight. The initial fire sparked off on Sunday between the districts of Seferihisar and Menderes in Izmir, rapidly spreading due to gusts reaching a staggering 117 km/h, as reported by Governor Süleyman Elban.
Locals in the village of Urkmez were compelled to fell trees to create firebreaks and safeguard their homes.
On Sunday, Adnan Menderes Airport, serving the coastal city of İzmir, was forced to ground all flights for several hours. The airport's departure board displayed a sea of suspended or cancelled flights scheduled for Sunday evening.
Since then, it's been business as usual at the airport, with today's departures and arrivals boards showing no signs of delays or cancellations.
This isn't the first time the area has been ravaged by wildfires, with similar incidents occurring last year along many of Türkiye's other coastal regions. As climate change continues to disrupt weather patterns and crank up temperatures, such occurrences are likely to become an increasingly common sight in the country.
