“Huge” fires in eastern Algeria and ongoing efforts to extinguish them

 Massive fires broke out yesterday, Friday, in the neighboring states of Bejaia and Tizi Ouzou, northeastern Algeria. While the Tizi Ouzou fire was extinguished, operations continued to control the Bejaia fire.

According to a Civil Defense statement published today, Saturday, a fire broke out in the Mhoui forest near the city of Tishi, another fire in the Ish El-Baz forest in the province of Bejaia, and a third fire in the forest of the village of Igdassen in the province of Tizi Ouzou.

The statement said that civil defense units were recruited to work to extinguish the outbreak of fires and evacuate residents of the area as a preventive measure to avoid human casualties.

Activists and Algerian media broadcast video clips on social media platforms documenting the rise of flames from the forests where the fire broke out, amid the intervention of fire brigades.

The fires broke out at night, and intervention teams from the neighboring states of Bordj Bou Arreridj, Setif, and Bouira participated in confronting them, as well as from the capital.

At the end of last July, the same areas witnessed massive fires that killed 34 people and destroyed vast areas of forests and fruit trees.

Northern and eastern Algeria witness forest fires annually, a phenomenon that worsens year after year due to the impact of climate change, which leads to drought and severe heat waves.

Meteorological Service warned in a special bulletin of a heat wave in the country's northeastern regions, including Bejaia and Tizi Ouzou, on Saturday and Sunday, with temperatures expected to reach 43 degrees.

Source: Agencies