Wheat field blaze hits southwest Iraq’s Kirkuk
Shafaq News- Kirkuk
A fire broke out on Saturday in a wheat field southwest of Kirkuk, while civil defense deployed firefighting vehicles to contain the blaze, a source in Kirkuk's Civil Defense Directorate told Shafaq News.
No injuries were reported despite high temperatures and strong winds that contributed to the expansion of the fire, the source noted, while crews managed to bring it under control after hours of operations.
According to preliminary assessments, the blaze damaged around 10 dunams (1 hectare) of wheat crops. Authorities are continuing field inspections to determine the full extent of the losses and identify the cause of the incident.
Earlier this week, a fire swept through nearly 50 dunams of wheat fields in southern Kirkuk, causing significant agricultural losses but no casualties. Farmland flames often erupt across southern Kirkuk during harvest season and cause significant crop losses.
Kirkuk Agriculture Directorate projected wheat production to reach around 600,000 tons this season, reinforcing the province’s position as one of Iraq’s main grain-producing areas. The Head of the Directorate, Zuhair Ali Hussein, told our agency in late April 2026 that average yields had reached around 1,250 kilograms per dunam, citing improved farming methods, technical support, and relatively favorable weather conditions.
(10 dunams = 1 hectare)
