Syrian civil defense teams are working around the clock to contain a massive fire in Jabal Turkman (Mountain), north of Latakia, the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management said in a written statement on Sunday.
The fire broke out between the villages of al-Rihaniya and al-Sukariyya in the Rabia district, the Syrian civil defense said in a post on X.
“A major forest fire broke out between the villages of al-Rihaniya and al-Sukariyya in the Rabia area of the northeastern Lattakia countryside Sunday.” the civil defense statement reads
“Syrian Civil Defense firefighting teams and forestry brigades are facing significant difficulties in extinguishing the fire due to the rapid spread of the flames, the extremely rugged terrain, and the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance that threaten the safety of firefighters,” the statement added.
Hassan Mohammad, head of Civil Defense operations in Lattakia, told SANA that teams are working “to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to new areas.”
He said firefighters are coordinating closely with forestry and agriculture authorities despite “the rapid spread of the flames, the extremely rugged terrain, and the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance that threaten the safety of firefighters.”
In July, a massive fire broke out in the coastal region, burning 180 square kilometers of land, an area larger than Damascus, according to NASA’s FIRMS satellite data.
