Interior Ministry declares state of emergency for civil defense amid rising temperatures

BAGHDAD – Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al-Shammari has directed civil defense teams to enter a state of emergency (Alert C) for three months and dismissed the director of civil defense in Basra. The Ministry of Interior announced these measures in a press release, citing rising temperatures as the catalyst.

Minister Al-Shammari met with senior officials, including the Federal Security Affairs Undersecretary, the Minister’s Advisor, the General Director of Civil Defense, and all provincial civil defense directors via video conference to discuss the situation.

During the meeting, Al-Shammari reviewed the latest fire incident statistics and the measures taken to manage and mitigate these events, emphasizing the importance of swift response. He also formed a committee to shut down non-compliant sites and projects in Baghdad and other provinces.

The minister replaced the Basra civil defense director due to performance issues and gave the civil defense directors of Baghdad’s Karkh and Rusafa one month to reduce fire incident rates in their respective areas.

In the summer, Iraq typically experiences an increase in fires caused by power malfunctions and those occurring in natural areas and agricultural fields.

Al-Shamamri directed relevant authorities to form awareness teams across all provinces, implementing rapid response mechanisms for fire incidents, and enhancing coordination to ensure the quick passage of civil defense vehicles to incident sites.