Kurdistan’s al-Sulaymaniyah fire incidents hit record low
Shafaq News – Al-Sulaymaniyah
Fire incidents in Iraqi Kurdistan’s al-Sulaymaniyah dropped sharply in 2025, reaching their lowest level in years, according to the Civil Defense Directorate.
Directorate spokesperson Aram Ali told Shafaq News on Thursday that 1,264 fires were recorded in the first ten months, down from 3,712 during the same period in 2024, calling the decline “unprecedented.”
He attributed it to increased public awareness and fewer incidents caused by overheated phone chargers, adding that the directorate continues to run safety campaigns focused on residential areas to further reduce risks.
The province periodically experiences fires, especially during summer and dry seasons. Last month, a blaze in Arbat’s Doli Dokanian area destroyed 20 dunams (4.94211 acres) of land and nearly 1,000 trees, according to the Forest and Environment Police.
Other major incidents included a 50-dunam orchard fire in Qardagh and a wildfire in Sharbazher that burned nearly 10,000 (2471.054 acres) dunams of woodland, bringing the province-wide total to over 9,400 acres lost in recent months.
While some fires were sparked by natural causes like lightning, most were linked to human negligence, including a 2020 fire that wiped out more than 5,000 dunams of green space.
Read more: 1K trees destroyed: Wildfire hits Kurdistan’s al-Sulaymaniyah
