“Strong winds are making firefighting efforts difficult in Izmir,“ Turkey’s forestry directorate said on X as aerial firefighting planes and helicopters resumed their sorties at sunrise.
Footage posted online of one of the fires -- near Cesme, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Izmir -- showed the sky darkened with vast clouds of smoke and flames raging over the treetops.
Two planes and six helicopters were battling high winds to try and tackle the fire, according to private television channel NTV, which said three neighbourhoods had been evacuated.
Many animals had been evacuated from the area, where many livestock farms are located, it added.
Izmir governor Suleyman Elban quoted witnesses and technicians as saying said the fire appeared to have been sparked by a power cable.
Another forest fire was raging in Odemis about 100 kilometres east of Izmir, where two planes and nine helicopters were trying to quench the flames, local media said.
Since Friday, hundreds of fires have been reported across drought-hit Turkey, fuelled by high winds.
Turkey, which was spared the recent heatwaves that gripped the rest of southern Europe, has been battling the effects of a long-term drought brought on by climate change. – AFP
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