Agriculture and Forestry Minister Pakdemirli has announced that all forest fires in Hatay have been brought under control. Pakdemirli announced that 2 of the 4 suspects detained had been released, and 2 new suspects had been detained also emphasizing there were serious suspicions of intent in the fire.
Fire crews responded to the fires, which occurred in some residents in the Fatih neighborhood of Belen county. After the fire spread to the residential area, families who took their children with them fled the area and moved away from the flames.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli who came to Hatay for the monitoring and coordination of forest fires, first examined the region. Explaining that the fire was brought under control, the Minister said the officials had intervened in the fires with 1 aircraft, 5 helicopters, 188 extinguishing vessels, 25 work machines and about 750 personnel.
The Minister went on to say: “Meteorological conditions were against us. Humidity below 30 percent temperature above 30 degrees is extremely dangerous for fires. Due to 18 humidity, 30 degrees temperature around and wind over 70 value, the struggle continued until these hours. Our air vehicles worked on ground and restricted ground for two days. One of our aircraft could not be used when the water intake valves failed. We experienced dangers because the fire was moving too close to residential areas. From time to time, we used the counter-fire technique. Muftis, Nergizlik, Karahuseyinli neighborhoods and Belen district center were affected by the fire.
Pakdemirli continued his statement and used the following expression: In the last two days, there have been very serious doubts about the intent of the fire in private. Our governor’s office is investigating this.
