In many parts of the world, including the United States and Europe, fires are wreaking havoc. North Africa is also affected and the number of victims is even high in Algeria. Four people were killed and three others injured in fires that broke out in Kabylia on Monday, a densely populated and forested mountainous region about 100 kilometers east of Algiers.
Two people died in Ait-Yenni, one in Yakourène, the lung of the region, and another in the nearby Azazga commune in Tizi-Ouzou department, said local forest conservator Youcef Ould Mohamed. In Ait-Yenni and Larbaa n’Ath Irathen, the flames reached close to the homes, causing panic among the populations who left their homes.
These fires occurred in the middle of a scorching summer marked by water scarcity. The most important dam in the region, Taksebt, is practically dry. And the situation does not seem to improve. Weather services forecast a temperature of 42 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday in the region.
In total, some thirty fires were registered in various towns in the wilaya (prefecture), spread by a strong wind that complicates the task of rescuers, Youcef Ould Mohamed observed. Reinforcements were dispatched from many other wilayas and firefighting helicopters were mobilized. Several bodies participate in operations of extinction and evacuation of threatened families, civil protection, forests, the army, the national gendarmerie, municipalities, hunters and many citizens.