الحرائق تتواصل في سورية.. وتمويلات جديدة لإخمادها

As firefighting teams continue their efforts to control a series of wildfires on the Syrian coast for the tenth consecutive day, the Syria Relief Fund announced today (Saturday) an emergency funding of $500,000 to support the Civil Defense response in extinguishing the fires raging in the countryside of Latakia in northwestern Syria and other areas of the country, according to the Syrian News Agency (SANA).

The official website of the fund quoted Executive Director Andrea Quaden as saying: "In light of the devastating fires sweeping through Syria, the fund is committed to standing by the affected communities," adding: "We are working to provide immediate support through our trusted partner, the Syrian Civil Defense, to help save lives, protect the most vulnerable groups, and initiate a recovery path."

Quaden emphasized that the humanitarian needs are urgent and require swift action. According to the fund, the financing includes a designated portion used for responding to wildfires within the current grant allocated to the Civil Defense with the fund under the third allocation. This emergency support allows for the rapid deployment of specialized teams, provision of protective equipment, water hoses, fuel, and spare parts for firefighting equipment in the most affected areas in Latakia, northern Hama, and southern Idlib, where the fires are destroying agricultural lands, displacing families, and pushing already vulnerable communities into further crises.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Adam Abdel-Mawla, had previously announced that UN teams on the ground are conducting urgent assessments to determine the scale of the disaster in the countryside of Latakia and the immediate humanitarian needs, expressing the UN's readiness to deploy a joint inter-agency mission in Latakia in coordination with authorities and partners to further assess the situation and explore avenues for immediate long-term support.

Specialized teams from several regional countries have arrived as part of a regional coordination described as the largest in years to confront this type of disaster. According to the emergency operations room in Latakia, vast areas of forests in the northern countryside of Latakia and Jabal al-Nasr are still witnessing active fire hotspots, with the fires extending to the Kessab area on the Syrian-Turkish border.

A source in the Civil Defense explained that firefighting teams managed to control fire hotspots on the Qastal Ma'af Kessab road despite significant difficulties due to war remnants, mines, and the rugged terrain affected by the fires, noting that firefighting operations included isolating areas and creating fire lines in the forests to enable teams to access the fire hotspots, while air support continues in extinguishing operations to prevent the spread of the flames.

For his part, the Director of Public Relations at the General Authority for Land and Sea Ports, Mazen Aloush, confirmed the temporary closure of the Kessab border crossing in the countryside of Latakia from the Turkish side due to the fires raging in the coastal mountains, while renewed fires occurred on the axes of Burj Zahia, Al-Farnalq, and Ain al-Mar near Kessab due to the winds, despite the efforts of more than 150 firefighting teams and 16 aircraft from Syria and supporting countries.