Antalya Governor Hulusi Şahin and New Party Antalya Deputy Aykut Kaya examined the area where the fire continued. Governor Hulusi Şahin, who made a statement later, said, "The forest fire, which started at this time yesterday, accelerated again a few hours ago. Due to the wind, it broke the sets built by our forestry organization in several places and spread into our Karaöz District and Yeşilkaraman District, where we are located. It threatened the houses, greenhouses and animal barns there. Our friends made intense efforts and saved the other houses, except for a few houses that were damaged in the first place. Meanwhile, a big fire started in Kumluca at noon. That fire is also continuing, but its energy was reduced. There. "It has damaged about 10 houses, but as of now, it does not threaten settlements and the fight continues by air and land. We are in constant contact with our Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and our Minister of Internal Affairs. Our teams continue to work both by air and land," he said.
'THERE IS A LIGHTENING IN THE WIND, THIS IS TO OUR ADVANTAGE'
Stating that the fire also threatened the gendarmerie station, Governor Şahin said, "That's why we are in the garden. But with the precautions taken by our friends, we saved both the police station and most of the other buildings. There is some damage, I also saw a few perished animals. We will assess the damage after the fire is over. The fire here continues. But the threat to the settlements has been greatly reduced as of now. Our friends are struggling. There is a slight easing in the wind, which is to our advantage. We can use this until dark." "We will continue to fight from the air and from the ground after dark until the morning," he said.
Stating that fires broke out in a few more districts, Şahin said, "But they were small. It broke out around 16.20 yesterday in Karaöz, in our Aksu district. This fire has lasted more than 24 hours and continues. We evacuate the neighborhoods at regular intervals. At the same time, citizens return when the threat is eliminated. In some places, we evacuate when we see a threat, and in some places, when the threat disappears, citizens can come back to their homes. The spread of the fire to other districts was small, and they were prevented, too."
People living in the villages threatened by the flames also support the efforts to extinguish the fire that has been going on since yesterday in Antalya's Aksu district. In Kızıllı District, where announcements were made to evacuate last night, an announcement was made from the mosque in the morning that 'Water will be carried for the fire pool'. Thereupon, dozens of neighborhood residents carried water with their tractors to the water pool filled with water by helicopters and water trucks. The villagers took turns pouring the water into the pool and returned to the village to refill their tankers.
'WE WAITED WITHOUT SLEEPING UNTIL THE MORNING'
University student Emine Rana Yaka, who was carrying water from the village to the pool with her father's tractor, said, "We brought water here to help. We prepared the tankers in the evening. They told us to evacuate the houses, but we could not evacuate because we had animals. We waited until the morning without sleeping. When the announcement was made from the mosque, the whole village brought their tankers here. Everyone has their own tractors, their own tankers and the water they filled from their own pockets."
'MANY CITIZENS COULD NOT EVACUATE THEIR HOMES FOR THEIR PETS'
Fevzi Karakuş, the imam of the mosque in Kızıllı District, said, "We made an announcement to our citizens to evacuate their homes yesterday. Many of our citizens could not evacuate their homes for their animals. Today, we made the announcement for those with water tankers to come to the fire zone. Thanks to our citizens, they also support with their own means."
Nuri Uğurlu, who was carrying water with his tractor, said, "We came here to save our forests. We came here with our own means. The imam of the village announced from the mosque that the pool was empty. We are all from the same village."
105 DOGS AFFECTED BY FLAMES WERE TRANSPORTED
The forest fire affected animals as well as trees, houses and people. While Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department and ASAT teams supported the work under the coordination of AFAD, Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Temporary Care Home and Rehabilitation Center for Stray Animals opened its doors to animals affected by the flames and dense smoke. Antalya Metropolitan Municipality veterinarians made intense efforts throughout the night to save the dogs in Aksu Animal Shelter, which were evacuated due to the fire. 105 dogs in Aksu Animal Shelter were transferred to Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Temporary Care Home and Rehabilitation Center for Stray Animals. Animals in need of treatment and care were also brought to the temporary care home by citizens. The health conditions of the animals, which were provided with oxygen support, were closely monitored by the veterinarians on duty. Animals whose eyes were affected by smoke and whose various parts of their bodies were burned were also treated and cared for.
