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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Firefighters were finally able to extinguish a wildfire that burned northeast of Duhok city for four days, a civil defense official told Rudaw. Battling the blaze was made more difficult because of landmines.
“After four days of work, the Zawita fire was controlled at 2am on Tuesday. The forests of the area have been severely harmed. More than 10,000 dunams of land was burnt,” said Bewar Abdulaziz, spokesperson for Duhok civil defense department.
Landmines planted in the area blew up in the heat, putting the firefighters at risk and hampering efforts to extinguish the flames.
Sixty-five people worked for four days to put the fire out, Zerevan Abdullah, head of rescue teams at the directorate, told Rudaw on Tuesday.
The trees were mostly pine, some more than a hundred years old.
The cause of the fire is unknown but Kawa Sabri, head of the Duhok forestry directorate, told Rudaw that it could have been started because of the hot weather or may have been “intentionally” set.
Scorching weather has caused several fires in Kurdistan Region recently, but it is not the only problem. Fires at Shanadar cave and Gali Ali Bag resort in Erbil this month were blamed on tourists.
Conflict is another cause. Duhok areas bordering Turkey have been the site of frequent clashes between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish forces. Thousands of dunams of land have been burnt. A massive fire, caused by Turkish bombardment, in mid-June burnt forests near five villages. Extinguishing such fires is difficult because of the ongoing conflict.
Additional reporting by Jutyar Qaraman
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