Published on 6/20/2026
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Last update: 17:39 (Mecca time)
With the onset of the harvest season and rising temperatures, the number of fires consuming agricultural crops in Syria has begun to escalate in recent days, causing losses to farmers in several governorates.
5226 fires in 35 days
Figures obtained by the “Syria Now” platform from the Directorate of Media and Communication of the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management revealed that the total fires to which the Ministry responded in the period from May 15 to June 19 amounted to 5,226 fires, of which 1,156 fires affected agricultural crops, an indication of the start of the fire season, which is now recurring every year.
Winds transport fire between villages
A large fire broke out in the countryside of the city of Ras al-Ain in Hasakah Governorate, which alone recorded about 13 agricultural fires yesterday, Friday.
According to the residents who participated in putting out the fires alongside the Syrian Civil Defense teams, the strong winds contributed to the spread of the fires from the village of Umm Ashba to the village of Mubarakiya, causing material damage to large areas.
Mustafa Al-Ali, one of the residents participating in the extinguishing operations, described to “Syria Now” the extent of the losses, saying: “The fires affected olive trees and 150 dunums of agricultural land, in addition to harvested lands of an area of 500 dunums (each dunum equals a thousand square metres).”
In the western countryside of Hama, Syria Now reporters monitored another fire that occurred yesterday, Friday, in the Al-Ghab Plain area, and affected agricultural land estimated at approximately 50 dunums, of which between 5 and 10 dunums were planted with wheat.
Under the weight of debt
In a scene that reflects the suffering of farmers, Dahham Al-Azo, a farmer from the Hasakah countryside, spoke in an interview broadcast by the Hasakah Information Directorate, about the extent of the tragedy he is experiencing, stressing that he borrowed the price of the fertilizers he used to grow his crop that was exposed to the fire, in the hope that he would harvest the season and pay off the debts incurred.
Ibrahim Al-Hamad, an affected farmer, faces the same fate, as he confirmed that his losses are very large, indicating that the wages for farming, fertilizer, and seeds were all on credit and he was waiting for the season to be completed to pay them.
