Fire in Bamo mountains contained after five days with nearly 500 acres burned

HALABJA — A wildfire that broke out in the mountainous Bamo subdistrict of Halabja governorate has been fully contained, five days after it began on June 24 and spread across rugged terrain, officials said Saturday.

Dilshad Mohammed, spokesperson for the Bamo Firefighting Center, told 964media the fire was extinguished around 10 p.m. Friday after days of intense effort. “After great effort by the Bamo firefighting base and field teams along with local villagers, we were able to fully control the fire,” he said.

The blaze destroyed nearly 500 acres of natural forest and caused significant ecological damage. “The fire inflicted heavy damage on the area’s natural forests and burned many animals and birds,” Mohammed added.

He said the fire was likely sparked by activity on the Iranian side of the border. “The reason for the fire’s ignition was Iranian guards launching explosive flares across the border. This often leads to fires, and sometimes they get out of control,” he said.

The firefighting response was hampered by dangerous conditions, including land mines that limited access to large parts of the affected area. “What made the fire very hard to control was the large number of land mines in the area. For the safety of our personnel, we couldn’t access many locations,” Mohammed said. “There were also no roads for vehicles, and we relied only on basic tools and manual labor to extinguish the flames.”

Strong winds pushed the fire across the border from Iran into Iraq, where it advanced through the remote hills of the Bamo range. Local teams and residents worked together to contain the spread, despite limited equipment and hazardous terrain.