A coal-fuelled power plant in southwest Turkey and nearby residential areas were being evacuated Wednesday evening as flames from a wildfire reached the plant, a mayor and local reporters said as sirens from the plant could be heard blaring.
Milas Mayor Muhammet Tokat, from Turkey's main opposition party, has been warning of the fire risks for the past two days for the Kemerkoy power plant in Mugla province. He said late Wednesday that the plant was being evacuated. Local reporters said the wildfires had also prompted the evacuation of the nearby seaside area of Oren.
Videos from the area showed bright orange, burning hills with power towers and lines crisscrossing the foreground. Pro-government news channel A Hbr broadcasting live from near the evacuated power plant late Wednesday said firefighters were working inside the compound cooling equipment and dousing sparks in an effort to keep the fire away. The channel's crew showed an incinerated police water cannon.
The wildfires have turned into yet another partisan issue in Turkey. Erdogan accused opposition party members of a "terror of lies" for criticizing Turkey's lack of adequate aerial firefighting capabilities and inadequate preparedness for large-scale wildfires.
Officials say 167 fires had been brought under control and 16 continued in five provinces. Thousands of firefighters and civilians were working to douse the flames. Turkey's parliament passed a law in July that gives the tourism ministry power to manage all aspects of new tourism centers, approved by the president, including in forests and on treasury lands for "public good," taking away responsibilities from the ministries of environment and forestry. The law says these locations would be identified according to their tourism potential, considering the country's natural, historic and cultural values.
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