Wildfires ravage Syria’s Latakia for 4th day in row: What to know
A Syrian official recently said that 2025 has been the driest year in decades, as wildfires persist along the coast, and the response is being hindered by the effects of the war.
Syrian firefighters battled a major blaze in the Latakia province for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday, as high temperatures and water scarcity wreak havoc in the country.
What happened: Civil defense officials said they were still working to contain and extinguish several wildfires in the Turkmen Mountain area of the coastal province. Firefighters have managed to gain control of the fires in some areas, but other parts are harder to access due to unexploded landmines, the official news outlet SANA reported.
العزيمة لاتزال قوية، رغم فقدانهم لزميلهم، ورغم تحديات درجات الحرارة وانفجار مخلفات الحرب، وصعوبات الرياح والتضاريس، يواصل رجال الإطفاء عملياتهم لإخماد الحرائق الحراجية الضخمة في جبل التركمان بريف اللاذقية، الفرق ضمن غرفة عمليات وزارة الطوارئ وإدارة الكوارث سيطرت على عدة بؤر… pic.twitter.com/wYOCi1tnow
— الدفاع المدني السوري (@SyriaCivilDefe) September 24, 2025
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that an unspecified number of people have been hospitalized in the area due to smoke inhalation. The firefighting teams are being hindered by a lack of advanced fighting equipment, according to the war monitor.
The Syrian Civil Defense organization said on Wednesday that one of its members had been killed fighting the fires.
