In the past hours, As-Suwayda governorate witnessed the outbreak of fires that affected large areas of agricultural land, causing damage to dozens of crops, primarily wheat.
The As-Suwayda Fire Brigade mentioned on its Facebook account that it extinguished 15 fires on Tuesday, June 4. The brigade described Monday, June 3, as a “fiery” day, with 31 fires affecting large agricultural areas across various regions of As-Suwayda. The total number of fires in the governorate over the past 48 hours reached 46.
The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Tuesday that the largest fire covered lands in the area between the city of Salkhad and the town of al-Qarya, affecting more than 600 dunums and causing damage to barley crops and fruit trees.
The local al-Raased network reported that a fire broke out in the al-Bassel park north of As-Suwayda city, which the fire brigade controlled. Additionally, a fire was extinguished south of Rasas camp, with losses estimated at 40 dunums of olives and 15 dunums of barley.
Since the start of this year’s harvest season, As-Suwayda governorate has experienced recurring fires. The government newspaper Tishreen announced on June 1 that the last week of the previous month witnessed nearly 50 fires, the largest of which broke out between the villages of Kanawat and Ateel, consuming 2000 dunums of forested land. Additionally, 4 dunums of wheat crops were burned, with the fire extinguishing process lasting around 4 hours.
The head of the As-Suwayda Fire Brigade, Fadi al-Daoud, stated to the newspaper that the main reasons behind these fires are the locals burning dry grasses and their inability to control them, leading to the fires spreading to large areas.
In northern Syria
In northwestern Syria, the Syria Civil Defence team documented the outbreak of 30 fires, most of them in agricultural lands, within 24 hours.
The organization mentioned that its teams responded on June 2 to 30 fires, the highest tally since the start of this year’s season. Among these, 25 fires occurred in lands, some of which contained agricultural crops, others had been harvested, and some had dry grasses. The majority were in eastern rural Aleppo.
The Civil Defence continuously calls to avoid throwing cigarette butts and glass litter near forests and to refrain from lighting fires in them, including giving up burning harmful grasses and dry branches.
Most areas of Syria are affected by a medium to severe heatwave as the region enters the peak impact of the hot air mass. The heatwave is expected to continue until Thursday, June 6, after which temperatures are expected to decrease.