A wildfire in Türkiye’s Çanakkale region has been brought under control, Türkiye’s Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı has announced.

Yumaklı told reporters on Thursday that the fire had burned through an area of 4,080 hectares, destroying more than seven homes.

Earlier reports had said that 9 villages had been evacuated due to the fires.

A comprehensive response had been mounted for the past 48 hours to combat the blaze, with a dedicated team comprising 2,960 personnel, 8 aircraft, 28 helicopters, 240 ground vehicles, 77 water tankers, 445 additional vehicles, and a complement of construction machinery.

Türkiye’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı said that over 4,080 hectares had been destroyed by the fire but was not decisively contained.

With residential areas teetering on the brink of danger, 9 villages in close proximity had been evacuated to ensure the safety of local inhabitants.

Minister Yumaklı said that collective efforts of firefighting personnel and strategic resources played a pivotal role in curtailing the fire’s advance and minimizing further damage.

He thanked everyone who contributed to battling the fire.

Efforts to put out the fires in the Çanakkale region were hampered by winds that reached 70kph, making it extremely difficult to battle the fires.

The Çanakkale (Dardanelles) Strait was also closed to north-south ship passage because of the fire which broke out earlier Tuesday and rapidly spread due to strong winds.

Maritime traffic from the Aegean Sea to the Marmara Sea (south-north) resumed as of 11am in the morning.

Meanwhile, President Tatar issued a statement regarding the fires that broke out in Çanakkale as well as Bilecik Osmaneli and Bursa Yenişehir regions in Türkiye.

“Our biggest consolation is that there was no loss of life in the fires” said Tatar and wished Türkiye a speedy recovery.