A massive forest fire in Turkey's western Izmir province has spread to a residential area, killing an elderly man, the first fatality after nearly a week of scattered fires raging across the country amid extreme heat and lack of rain.
Forest fires are raging in Turkey due to abnormal heat. In the Edemish district of Izmir province, the fire has already spread to residential buildings despite all efforts of firefighters to curb the destructive elements. As a result of the spread of the fire, an 81-year-old man who was bedridden and was at home alone died.
Reuters reports this.
Firefighters are battling the blaze in Izmir for the second day in a row. Several helicopters and special aircraft are working in the mountainous area, dropping water on the vast areas engulfed in flames.
Destruction and evacuation of the population
Turkish authorities were forced to close some roads to the Aegean resort town of Cesme due to the threat of fire. Television broadcasts showed flames engulfing sections of the main highway as water trucks arrived.
Forest fires in the west of the country have damaged about 200 homes and victims have been provided with alternative housing, according to Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
So far, only a few of the fires have been brought under control. Turkish media sources confirm that the fire in the Edemish district, where 81-year-old Ibrahim Erkan died, is still burning.
Two districts – Tosunlar and Sucikti – were completely evacuated. It is clear that the fire has already damaged some houses in Tosunlar. At the same time, strong winds are making the work of fire brigades much more difficult.
A total of 3,015 fires have occurred in Turkey since the beginning of 2025, of which 1,295 were forest fires. In the last week alone (June 26 to July 3), 576 forest fires broke out, 331 of which spread to forest areas from other areas, the Turkish Presidency Communications Directorate reported.
New centres and scale of struggle
New fires broke out on Thursday, July 3, in the southern resort province of Antalya and outside Istanbul, Turkey's largest city. 25,000 employees and about 6,000 units of special equipment were involved.
Another Turkish publication, Gazete Oksijen, notes that the fire is also continuing in the Cesme district of Izmir, and traffic on some sections of the Izmir-Cesme highway has been blocked.
Let us recall that forest fires are also raging in neighboring Greece. The fire has engulfed several settlements and a popular resort and is spreading rapidly due to strong winds. The authorities have announced the evacuation of the population.
