ALGIERS/ Abbas Memouni/ Anadolu

Algeria's Civil Protection Directorate General announced on Friday that 119 fires were recorded across 33 provinces in the past 24 hours, some requiring aerial intervention to extinguish, with no casualties reported.

These fires occur amid a heatwave affecting the northern regions of the country, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, with warnings that they will continue to rise until Sunday.

The Civil Protection said in a statement that the fires affected forests, bushes, scrublands, and agricultural crops, distributed across the northern provinces.

It added that the largest fire was recorded in the Sebaa Mazair area, municipality of El Nchamaya, in Guelma province (northeast).

It explained that 'firefighting teams deployed 6 trucks to the site, supported by three AT 802 aircraft that made nine drops, along with a BE 200 aircraft that made two drops.'

The provinces of Bejaia (northeast) and Blida (north) also saw aerial interventions to help contain several fires, according to the statement.

In a later update, the Civil Protection reported that by 5:00 p.m. local time (16:00 GMT), it had dealt with 29 fires involving agricultural crops, fruit trees, and palm trees in 17 provinces.

It added that 18 fires were fully extinguished, while efforts to extinguish 10 fires are ongoing.

Algeria's meteorological services had warned, in a special bulletin, of the continued heatwave until Sunday.

The warning included the provinces of Bejaia, Jijel, Skikda, Annaba, and El Tarf, where maximum temperatures are expected to range between 40 and 42 degrees Celsius, and may reach 43 to 45 degrees in some areas, while minimum temperatures range between 25 and 30 degrees, according to the Algerian News Agency.

It pointed out that the dense forest cover in those provinces increases the risk of fires breaking out.

Algeria has been suffering from a severe drought for years, especially in its central and western regions, leading to a decline in dam levels and groundwater, and exacerbating the risk of forest fires.

Recurring droughts since 2022 have caused unprecedented fires that killed dozens of people and injured hundreds, in addition to damaging tens of thousands of hectares of forests and vegetation cover.