Turkey bolsters Tekirdağ forest fire response with 50 water tankers

In Tekirdağ province, authorities handed over 50 water tankers to 50 forest neighbourhoods to strengthen first‑response capacity against forest, rural and residential fires. The ceremony, attended by Governor Recep Soytürk and Istanbul Forest Regional Director Zafer Derince, highlighted that the tankers can be quickly attached to tractors or vehicles to deliver water to fire sites.

The distribution follows an earlier May delivery of 10 tankers and is part of a plan to provide 60 villages with tankers by 2026. Soytürk said the equipment will help extinguish small fires before they spread and noted the recent July forest fires were contained rapidly with aircraft.

The effort aims to address rising fire risk due to higher temperatures and to ensure water availability during drought periods for both firefighting and daily needs of local residents.