ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Authorities evacuated homes in southern Turkey as a wildfire fanned by strong winds raged Wednesday through a forest area near the Mediterranean coastal town of Manavgat.
Security forces helped move residents out of four neighborhoods in the town out of the fire’s path as firefighters worked to control the blaze, Manavgat district governor Mustafa Yigit told the state-run Anadolu Agency.
He denied earlier media reports that patients at a hospital in Manavgat were being transferred to another location, but said the hospitals in the area were placed on alert.
Tourists resorts in the region weren’t affected, Yigit added.
The government’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD, said around 30 people were “affected” by the fire, but didn’t provide details.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the fire. Wildfires are common in Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean regions during the arid summer months, although some forest fires have been blamed on arson.