A forest fire broke out in Karaöz District of Aksu district at around 16.30 yesterday. The fire, which broke out in the forest covered with dense pine trees, grew rapidly under the influence of the wind. Forestry and fire brigades intervened in the fire, which was advancing close to residential areas, by land and air. Evacuation of citizens and animals has begun in endangered settlements. AFAD Mobile Coordination Truck, mobile base stations and Red Crescent catering vehicles were established. The fire started in Karaöz District and the flames reached the border of Döşemealtı district. In the Kızıllı and Ilıca neighborhoods of Döşemealtı district, the gendarmerie made a warning announcement to evacuate the houses as a precaution. TOMAs were deployed in the region and security was increased to the highest level. Entrances and exits to the fire zone were closed. Aksu Municipality's animal shelter was evacuated as a precaution.
Construction machinery belonging to the State Hydraulic Works (DSI) also opened roads in the forest to slow down the speed of the fire. Medical teams intervened in ambulances at the scene to the forest workers who participated in the fire extinguishing effort and were affected by the smoke. The ashes formed in the fire area rained down on Antalya city center with the effect of the wind. In addition to Antalya MPs İbrahim Ethem Taş, Aykut Kaya and Aliye Coşar, Deputy Mayor of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Büşra Özdemir and Kepez Mayor Mesut Kocagöz examined the works on site.
Making a statement at the fire scene, Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Büşra Özdemir said, "There is a rapidly growing fire with the influence of the wind. We are on the field with all our strength with our Antalya Metropolitan Municipality and ASAT teams. We took out our newly purchased fire trucks without even a traffic registration and without a license plate. We are also on the field in this organization, which is carried out under the coordination of AFAD, with all our work machines, tools and personnel."
As of the morning, 3 planes, 9 helicopters, 165 water trucks, 7 TOMAs, 25 work machines and 110 vehicles were used in the fire extinguishing efforts on the borders of Aksu and Döşemealtı districts. 610 from the Regional Directorate of Forestry, 74 from the Police Department, 40 from AFAD, 58 from the Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department, 49 from Kepez Municipality, 31 from Isparta Regional Directorate of Forestry, 20 from the Regional Directorate of DSI, Gendarmerie, ASAT, Health Directorate, Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services, Akdeniz University, Konya AFAD, Isparta AFAD, Kızılay, Aksu Municipality, Muratpaşa. A total of 1,016 personnel from the Municipality, Konyaaltı Municipality, Döşemealtı Municipality, Serik Municipality, Manavgat Municipality, Konya Metropolitan Municipality, Karaman Municipality, Isparta Municipality and various NGOs are fighting in the fire area.
The fire, which broke out in Karaöz District of Aksu, reached Topallı District, approximately 10 kilometers away. While the teams intervened in the fire from the ground throughout the night, fire extinguishing helicopters and airplanes began to intervene from the air in the early hours of the morning. While it became difficult to extinguish the fire due to the wind reaching speeds of 30 kilometers per hour, citizens sat on the roadside and watched the fight against the flames. On the other hand, the smoke caused by the fire covered the surroundings. A part of the city was covered in smoke clouds. While the air temperature in the city was measured at 25 degrees, the humidity rate was stated to be around 30 percent.
The latest situation regarding the fire, in which 720 people from 254 houses were evacuated from Antalya Governorship, was announced as follows: "Due to the fire, 25 people from 10 households in Karaöz District of Aksu district, 29 households and 18 barns and 105 people in Yumuk District, 175 households and 439 people in Çamlıca District of Kepez district were evacuated, and evacuation efforts continue in Yeşilkaraman District of Aksu district. "Animal evacuations are continuing by Kepez Municipality teams and 3 trucks and 6 personnel have been assigned to be used in evacuation efforts. Mobile base station vehicles have been deployed to the region due to the outages in the mobile communication network. It has been reported that there is a power outage in the region and 2 thousand 97 subscribers are currently affected by the outage."
Stating that he came from abroad at night and inspected the fire area, Antalya Governor Hulusi Şahin said that efforts to control the fire continued uninterruptedly. Governor Şahin said, "The energy of the fire has decreased, so we expect it to be under control in a few hours. Therefore, our friends continue to work."
