Levent was forced to evacuate from the fires: “The police said we would take our passports”

Firefighters and military police are being assisted by volunteers from all over Turkey and abroad to put out the fires currently engulfing the country.

I started four or five days ago on a smaller scale. Last Friday we had to leave our homes. The cops came here and said we would bring the most important things like passports and the like, says Levent Bander.

Not enough helicopters

He is one of thousands of people trying to help those fighting fire:

I help deliver food, drink, medicine, and work clothes to those who need them. It’s tough terrain and it’s hard to get out with fire trucks. Since it is burning in several parts of Turkey, you do not have enough helicopters and planes, so some people help with their jeeps.

Levent Bander now hopes the fire damage won’t be too great, but points out that there are those who are worse off.

– In the countryside people do not have insurance. There are many who had a bad time. The state said they would help and I really hope they will. All their fields were burned, along with the animals and olive trees.

Temperatures above 40 degrees

He runs a hotel in the tourist resort of Bodrum where he and his family fled when the fires approached his home:

– I’ve been involved in wildfires before, and it happens in these parts of the country during the summer. But it is very hot this year. Temperatures above 40 degrees. It’s obviously scary, but at the same time it’s kind to the thousands of people who help out in different ways.