152 out of 163 fires contained in Turkey

ANKARA/ANTALYA, Turkey

A total of 152 fires have been contained since they started burning last Wednesday in Turkey, according to the country’s agriculture and forestry minister.

Efforts continue to put out the 11 remaining blazes.

There were 163 fires that have erupted in 38 provinces since July 28, Bekir Pakdemirli told a news conference in the Marmaris district in ​​southern Turkey. He was accompanied by Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.

Pakdemirli said 16 airplanes, nine UAVs, 51 helicopters, one unmanned aerial helicopter, 805 water tankers, and 5,200 personnel are battling the blazes.

He pledged support to victims and said 2,219 farmers in five provinces, 18 districts and 78 villages have been affected.

Pakdemirli said Marmaris saw record high temperature of 45.5 degrees Celsius (113.9 F). “The previous record was 45.2° [113.36 F] on July 7, 1988,” he said.

Regarding ongoing fires in Antalya’s Manavgat district, he said: “We received some good news from the west side of Manavgat. Our teams have taken some risks. It's heading towards a good point.”

Soylu said as many as 16,603 residents in 3,219 households in 28 neighborhoods have been evacuated because of the fires.

Over 6,500 personnel works in Antalya to stop fires

Separately, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum and Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu addressed a news conference in Manavgat district of Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya.

In Antalya, Cavusoglu said over 6,500 personnel, eight aircraft, two UAVs, 30 helicopters, 456 water tenders, 426 construction machines and 172 fire brigade trucks, and 1,841 vehicles are working at full pace to bring the wildfires under control.

Kurum said Turkey will build 1,037 houses in the areas affected due to the fires by next summer.

A total of 47.5 million Turkish liras were sent to Antalya, and over 12 million Turkish liras distributed to 912 families as part of the damage assessments, he added.

At least eight people have also lost their lives in the wildfires.