Tunisia records 900 fires in 72-hour window during scorching heatwave

TUNIS: At least 900 fires broke out in Tunisia over a 72-hour period, a senior official told AFP on Friday, as the country grapples with an intense heatwave.
Civil protection official Khalil Mechri said most of the blazes recorded between July 20 and 22 had been extinguished, though two major ones were still raging.
“These are not only forest fires but also brushland, crops, houses,” he said, without offering details on the areas affected.
Their outbreak has coincided with exceptional heat.
Temperatures on Tuesday ranged between 40C and 49C depending on the region, exceeding seasonal averages by eight to 14 degrees, according to the National Institute of Meteorology.
The country is also experiencing daily planned power cuts intended to ease pressure on the grid.
The heatwave follows an especially rainy winter, and Mechri said an unusually high amount of dried-out plant cover had “contributed to the outbreak of fires.”
Firefighters are still battling two major blazes, one of them in the northwestern region of Sakiet Sidi Youssef.
An AFP journalist at the scene reported thick black smoke rising from the mountains.
Local media quoted Tunisia’s director general of forests as saying around 4,400 hectares of forestland burned between May 1 and July 23, compared with 2,705 during the same period last year, blaming the fires mainly on negligence or criminal acts, in addition to the extreme heat.