Firefighters in Syria’s Latakia Battle Wildfires Amid Heatwave

On Wednesday, Syria's authorities stated that various fire crews battled numerous blazes amid a heatwave and have controlled most of them in the northwestern province of Latakia.

Related:
Syria to Receive People With Chronic Diseases From Rebel Areas

According to Amer Ismail Hilal, governor of Latakia, firefighters have been trying to control new blazes in the area for two days as flames have burned large swathes of agricultural and forest areas in Latakia.

Firefighter teams put out the fires after working for long hours using water and isolation methods due to the rough terrain of the region and the inability to access some spaces because of the widespread fires.

The Civil Defense Commander in Latakia told local media said that about 70 percent of regional fires were controlled, adding that the fires randomly broke out in areas not connected to each other.

The current fires in Latakia started on Tuesday in a forested region; strong winds and the difficult-to-reach mountainous terrain contributed to the rapid spread of fire.

According to Bassem Douba, director of agriculture and agrarian reform in Latakia, preliminary estimation indicated that over 5,000 dunums (5 square km) were burned entirely.

Authorities have said that an investigation into the cause of the fires and a final estimation of their damage are underway.