At least 25 people have died as a result of wildfires blazing across Algeria during an intense heat wave, the authorities reported on Monday (July 24).
The interior ministry reported that as the fires tore through residential neighborhoods, more than 20 persons suffered injuries.
This Zbarbar native in the region of Bouira remembers how the fire started.
“It started to burn at around 2 p.m., just down from the military school,” Boualam Ferhat says.
“I called the fire brigade and I told them that the fire had started nearby. They got there half an hour later but in the meantime the fire had really spread.”
The house of Ali Saibi, another Zbarbar resident, has been partly destroyed: “We lost my air conditioner, my windows burned and many other things,” he says.
“The fire started at Grouma on the Tablat-side, and it spread through Beni Malah and in the end it arrived at Bourebach, burning everything in its path. Some people lost everything.”
97 fires were reported in the north African nation’s 16 provinces, fueled by brisk winds as some regions of the country reached temperatures of 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit).
Parts of Bejaia and Jijel, in the Kabyle region east of Algiers, and Bouira, south-east of the capital, were devastated by the biggest and deadliest fires.
The President sent his condolences to the families of the fallen, both civilian and military, on Monday, July 24.
According to the interior ministry, aircraft fire-fighting support helped 7,500 firefighters and 350 firetrucks tackle the fires.
According to the statement, efforts were being made to put out fires in six provinces, and it urged residents to “avoid areas affected by the fires” and report any new fires via toll-free phone lines.
In the summer, fires frequently blaze over Algeria’s fields and woodlands; this year, a heatwave that saw several Mediterranean nations shatter temperature records has only made things worse.
In the northern area of El Tarf in Algeria, terrible fires in August 2022 claimed 37 lives.
The summer of 2021, which saw 90 people die in similar flames, mostly in the Kabylie region, was the bloodiest in many years.
On Monday, temperatures in adjacent Tunisia were very close to 50 degrees Celsius.
After another fire broke out nearby last week, flames are now raging once more in a Tunisian pine forest in Tabarka close to the Algerian border. Winds and the temperature, which was getting close to 50 degrees Celsius, fueled the flames. According to the national guard, at least 300 residents of the adjoining village of Melloula were evacuated by boat and land.
