Flames in Bilecik wildfire moving toward town center: 'We cannot say it is under control'

The fire broke out yesterday around 17:15 in a forested area between the Geyve and Pamukova districts of Sakarya. The flames spread rapidly due to the wind, affecting many villages. As the flames moved toward the Büyükyenice, Kazancı, and Borcak villages in Bilecik's Osmaneli district, the local population mobilized. While the Kızılöz village was evacuated last night as a precaution, Büyükyenice, Kazancı, and Borcak villages were also evacuated today. A gas station on the Bilecik-Sakarya highway was evacuated, and the flames are moving toward the Prof. Dr. Yunus Söylet İçmeler Healing Facility.

"WE CANNOT SAY THE FIRE IS UNDER CONTROL"

Bilecik Governor Faik Oktay Sözer, who conducted inspections in Borcak village, then moved on to Kazancı village. Making a statement there, Governor Sözer stated that they are experiencing the largest fire in Bilecik's history, saying, "Last night, we carried out work to clear the forest area against the possibility of the flames jumping to the villages. Unfortunately, the wind intensity increased this morning, and the fire began to expand. This time, it affected our Büyükyenice village.

This is a quite large village of ours. We directed all our teams here. But the wind is very effective. It started to jump due to the effect of the wind. The flames are coming toward our Kazancı and Borçak villages. The fire reached the upper parts of the villages, and we evacuated these two villages. In total, we have evacuated 4 villages. Since it is currently night, our planes and helicopters have taken a break until daybreak. All our teams will work until morning.

We have taken our precautions in our Kazancı and Borçak villages. We hope that the wind will die down, and then we will reduce its energy in a short time with these teams. We have currently reduced the energy of the flames advancing toward the villages in the first stage, but we cannot say the fire is under control. Thank God we evacuated our 4 villages, we have no loss of life. There is none in terms of animals either. This makes us happy," he said.

"THOSE WHO TOOK THEIR WATER TANKERS CAME RUNNING"

Governor Sözer said, "We were once again proud of our fellow citizens from Bilecik. Those who took their tractors and water tankers came running. They took their place in the field, asking, 'Mr. Governor, what can be done?' These things really made us very happy. They provided a lot of support. This cooperation and solidarity both gave us courage and supported our efforts to bring the fire under control and extinguish it. I once again express my gratitude to my fellow citizens from Bilecik," he said.

On the other hand, while all tractor owners in the Osmaneli district and surrounding villages headed to the region with water tanks, announcements were made from the village mosques for no one to remain in the villages. The fire is being intervened with 464 personnel, 72 fire trucks, 22 water tankers, 17 first response vehicles, 12 pickup trucks, 2 bulldozers, 2 trailers, and aerial vehicles during the day.