An emergency responder with the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, works to extinguish a wildfire in the town of Rabia, in Latakia province, Syria, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A Turkish firefighting aircraft flies over smoke covered hills as it assists in extinguishing wildfires near the town of Rabia, in Syria’s Latakia province, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Emergency responders with the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, work to extinguish a wildfire in the town of Rabia, in the Latakia countryside, Syria, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Syrian Civil Defense teams continued efforts on Saturday to contain wildfires that are sweeping through the Turkmen Mountains and other parts of Latakia’s countryside. (AP video shot by Ghaith Alsayyed / July 6, 2025)
Syrian Civil Defense teams continued efforts on Saturday to contain wildfires that are sweeping through the Turkmen Mountains and other parts of Latakia’s countryside. (AP video shot by Ghaith Alsayyed / July 6, 2025)
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An emergency responder with the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, works to extinguish a wildfire in the town of Rabia, in Latakia province, Syria, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
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A Turkish firefighting aircraft flies over smoke covered hills as it assists in extinguishing wildfires near the town of Rabia, in Syria's Latakia province, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
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Emergency responders with the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, work to extinguish a wildfire in the town of Rabia, in the Latakia countryside, Syria, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
LATAKIA, Syria (AP) — United Nations teams have deployed Sunday to the Syrian coast, where firefighters are battling wildfires for a fourth day.
U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria Adam Abdelmoula said in a statement that the fast-spreading blazes in the northwestern province of Latakia “have forced hundreds of families to flee their homes, while vast tracts of agricultural land and vital infrastructure have been destroyed.â€
U.N. teams are “conducting urgent assessments to determine the scale of the disaster and to identify the most immediate humanitarian needs,†he said.
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Firefighting teams from Turkey and Jordan have joined Syrian civil defense teams, providing support from the air with helicopters. Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported that emergency crews are attempting to prevent the blazes from reaching the al-Frunloq natural reserve, with its “large, interconnected forests.â€
Syrian Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed al-Saleh called the situation “extremely tragic.â€
In a statement posted on X, he said the fires had destroyed “hundreds of thousands of trees†covering an area estimated at 10,000 hectares (38.6 square miles).
“We regret and mourn every tree that burned, which was a source of fresh air for us,†al-Saleh said.
The Syrian Civil Defense had expressed concerns over the presence of unexploded ordnance left over from the country’s nearly 14-year civil war in some of the wildfire areas.
Summer fires are common in the eastern Mediterranean region, where experts warn that climate change is intensifying conditions.
Below-average rainfalls over the winter have also left Syrians struggling with water shortages this summer, as the springs and rivers that normally supply much of the population with drinking water have gone dry.
