Syria: Large fire in Damascus under control, 60% of fires in Latakia countryside contained

The White Helmets Civil Defense explained in a statement posted on its X platform account that its firefighting teams "extinguished a large fire that broke out at dawn on Saturday in a fabric dye shop in the Bab al-Salam area within the old neighborhoods of Damascus."

Five fire stations participated in the operation, and the extinguishing operations lasted for more than two hours, according to the same statement.

The statement explained that "the fire caused significant damage to the building, which was put out of service, in addition to damage to machinery and fabrics." The Civil Defense also published photos of firefighters extinguishing the blaze.

As of 07:10 GMT, the Civil Defense had not indicated the cause of the fire, nor had any human casualties been reported.

For its part, the Syrian Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management announced on Saturday that it had managed to control more than 60% of the fires in the Latakia countryside, noting that wind direction over the coming hours would be a decisive factor in extinguishing efforts.

This came in a post on her X account, in which she confirmed that "the joint operations room, which includes the Ministries of Emergency, Agriculture, Interior, and Defense, succeeded in controlling more than 60% of the forest fire in the Rabia area in the Latakia countryside (northwest)."

"Winds are expected to play a crucial role in extinguishing the fire in the coming hours," she explained.

The Syrian Civil Defense announced on Friday that "for more than 48 hours, firefighting teams from the Syrian Civil Defense, in cooperation with the Lattakia Fire Brigade and the Forestry Department of the Directorate of Agriculture, have been responding to a widespread fire in a forested area on the Sukkariyah Road in the Rabia area of ​​Jabal al-Turkman in the Lattakia countryside."

In a statement on his X account, he pointed out several challenges facing Civil Defense teams, including "the difficult terrain of the area, the lack of ready fire lines to limit the spread of the fire, the remoteness of water supply sources, and the lack of specialized tracked vehicles, which makes intervention even more difficult." Civil Defense did not indicate the cause of the fire nor did it report any human casualties.

In a related development, the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced that Defense Minister Marhaf Abu Qasra had ordered the deployment of army forces to participate in firefighting operations.

The ministry reported on its official Telegram channel on Friday that "Chief of Staff Major General Ali al-Naasan has issued orders to deploy a Syrian army force to help extinguish the fires raging in the Rabia area of ​​the Latakia countryside, under the direction of the Minister of Defense."

Last March, the Civil Defense announced that firefighting teams had extinguished 20 forest fires that broke out in the countryside of the Latakia and Tartous governorates (northwest), according to a statement published at the time. The statement did not indicate the causes of the fires or the human losses.