A wildfire in Antalya raged on for a fourth day yesterday, though thousands of firefighters managed to bring it under partial control, with officials saying they hoped to have it fully contained by the end of the day.

The blaze in Antalya began in the Serik district on Thursday. The fire picked up strength due to high winds, spreading the flames to Manavgat. On Sunday, the fire reached Taşağıl in Antalya. Many villages in the area were evacuated and one person died in the fire, which as of Sunday had burned 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of red pine forest, an amount equal to the area of forestland lost in all of 2007. The Antalya fire is one of the worst wildfires in the past three decades. Mustafa Kurtulmşlu, deputy general manager of Turkey’s forestry directorate, on Sunday said there were no settlements in the area where the fire seems to be headed. He said they hope to bring the fire under full control by Sunday night.

“The weather was in our favor last night, but winds flared up again this morning. Despite this we will have the fire totally under control today,” he said. He noted that firefighters are still combating blazes in five areas of Antalya, focused in the Manavgat and Serik districts, where six villages have been evacuated.

Five helicopters and seven firefighting planes as well as thousands of firefighters from 20 provinces of Turkey were battling the flames. Winds of 70 kilometers/hour were the biggest obstacle to fully containing the fire. The temperature of 39 degrees Celsius was another factor on the fire’s side, and meteorology officials say they do not expect temperatures to drop over the next few days, adding that high winds will continue through the rest of this week. One person is still missing in the blaze, which has also destroyed 60 houses and endangered historical sites, including the ancient Greek amphitheater in Aspendos, 37 kilometers from the Mediterranean coastal resort of Side.

Antalya has some of the richest remains of Greek civilization in Turkey and is the nation's top tourist destination, receiving about 7 million tourists each year, mostly during the summer period.

    Saturday night was a trying period for the people in the area. Those in villages closest to the fire spent the entire night clearing grass, weeds and overgrowth around their villages and soaking the land in attempts to protect their homes.

However, most villagers refused to evacuate despite an abundance of tents and blankets sent by the Turkish Red Cross to the area. Most of the residents slept on beds they made at the entrance of their homes.

Environment and Forestry Minister Veysel Eroğlu, who arrived in the disaster area on Saturday, said the state would be paying for the damages incurred by villagers. "I have talked to our prime minister. I will be presenting detailed information to the Cabinet on Monday. Our public works minister has sent teams from the Disaster Management General Directorate to the region. We will be providing the necessary aid to our citizens who were affected by the fire," he stated.

HEYET Net- Today's Zaman