Key points
- Fires engulf mountains surrounding Bursa
- 3,515 people have been safely evacuated
- Firefighters battle active wildfires in Greece’s southwest
ISLAMABAD: Wildfires that have engulfed Türkiye for weeks threatened Bursa, the country’s fourth-largest city on Sunday, forcing over 3,500 people to flee their homes and leaving two people dead.
According to Associated Press (AP), Greece, Bulgaria and Montenegro are also battling blazes fed by unusually high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds.
Severe wildfires
Overnight fires in the forested mountains surrounding Bursa, in northwest Turkey, spread rapidly, tinting the night sky over the city’s eastern suburbs with a red glow.
Dozens of severe wildfires have hit the country daily since late June, with the government declaring the two western provinces of Izmir and Bilecik as disaster areas on Friday.
AP cited Türkiye’s Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli as saying that 3,515 people had been safely evacuated from villages to the northeast of Bursa as over 1,900 firefighters battled the flames. The highway linking Bursa to the capital, Ankara, was closed as surrounding forests burned.
A firefighter died from a heart attack while on the job, the city’s mayor, Mustafa Bozbey, said, adding that the flames had scorched 3,000 hectares (7,413 acres) around the city.
Firefighting efforts
According to TRT Global, wildfires burning across Türkiye have killed over a dozen people and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands, as authorities mount a large-scale response to contain the blazes amid scorching heat and strong winds.
Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a post on social media, said the country was waging a full-scale fight on both land and air put out the fires.
“Türkiye is carrying out a massive operation against forest fires by land and air,” Erdogan wrote on X.
“We remain on alert day and night with 27 aircraft, 105 helicopters, nearly 6,000 ground vehicles, 25,000 heroic forestry personnel, and 132,000 volunteers.”
Türkiye, orman yangınlarına karşı havada ve karada büyük bir mücadele yürütmektedir.
Yeşil Vatan’ımızı korumak için hâlihazırda 27 uçak, 105 helikopter, 6 bine yakın kara aracı, 25 bin kahraman orman çalışanımızla, 132 bin gönüllümüzle birlikte gece gündüz teyakkuz hâlindeyiz.… pic.twitter.com/O0tsBUZlhq
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) July 27, 2025
Yumakli said fire crews across the country confronted 84 separate blazes Saturday. The country’s northwest was under the greatest threat, including Karabuk, where wildfires have burned since Tuesday and 1,839 people have been evacuated from 19 villages, according to AP.
Aside from Bursa and Karabuk, a major fire was raging in Kahramanmaras, southern Türkiye, the minister said, warning that growing winds could suddenly reignite fires not properly watered down after being extinguished.
Red warning
In Greece, firefighters battled active wildfires in the country’s southwest and on the island of Kythera on Sunday, after a blaze that scorched the northern Athens suburb of Kryoneri on Saturday. High temperatures, reaching 38 C (100 F) or more, persist across much of the country, though winds have eased slightly, according to AP.
