TURKEY has been ravaged by fresh wildfires with over 1,500 civilians forced to flee their homes.
A firefighter has died as they battled the rising flames which come amid a number of terrifying and deadly fires across the country.
Residents in Bursa were alerted of the serious fires early on Sunday.
Flames broke out in forested mountainous areas in northwest Turkey as they rapidly spread across the region.
The Bursa governor’s office said in a statement that 1,765 people had been safely evacuated from villages to the northeast.
At least 76 fires were recorded nationwide across the past 24 hours with major blazes still active in Bursa, Karabuk, Usak, and Kahramanmaras.
More than 1,100 firefighters have been drafted in to help save those still trapped and to extinguish the flames.
They are equipped with water tankers, helicopters, aircraft, and TOMA riot control vehicles.
Concerns have arisen about the road connecting Bursa to Ankara, following its closure on Sunday due to wildfires engulfing the nearby forest areas.
The flames have scorched 7,413 acres around the city so far, according to the city’s mayor, Mustafa Bozbey.
Orhan Saribal, a local MP in the province, described the scene as an apocalypse.
Turkey has been hit by a number of wildfires in recent weeks.
The president has warned they face a “truly great disaster” as dozens of regions have been decimated.
Fresh wildfires ignited along Turkey’s Mediterranean shoreline on Friday, prompting the government to label two western provinces as “disaster zones.”
East of Antalya, fires broke out in Adana and Mersin on Friday.
Elsewhere in the country, firefighters continued battling blazes in Eskisehir and nearby Karabuk that have been raging for several days.
Photographs depicted flames and thick smoke spiraling upwards near tall residential buildings in Antalya, a popular summer destination for both locals and tourists.
