ISTANBUL, July 26, (AP): New wildfires broke out on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast Friday, as the government declared two western provinces in the country to be disaster zones. Images showed flames and smoke billowing into the sky close to high-rise apartment buildings in Antalya, where local and foreign visitors flock during the summer months.

Homes were evacuated in the city center and the outlying district of Aksu as the fire advanced, privately owned news agency DHA reported. Firefighters struggled to extinguish the blazes before strong winds could spread the fire, which closed a major coastal road. Further along the coast, homes in the city of Manavgat were also threatened.

Local residents with hoses and buckets rushed to assist firefighters as water-dropping helicopters and planes also battled the flames. Police water cannons and municipal water trucks were also enlisted in the firefighting efforts. Antalya Gov. Hulusi Sahin said that the fires were under control apart from one in Aksu, which was "showing a tendency to grow,” and another in Gazipasa, east of Manavgat.

"The fires were truly disturbing and dangerous, because they occurred in city centers, among houses,” he said. "We evacuated some of our homes ... There are no deaths or injuries.” At 46.1C (115F), July temperatures in Antalya city were the highest for the month since records began in 1930. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, meanwhile, said Friday that Izmir and Bilecik provinces had been declared "disaster areas affecting public life," one step below the most serious level of emergency.

Between June 27 and Thursday, residents from 120 neighborhoods nationwide were evacuated, Yerlikaya added, and more than 12,000 workers under the ministry’s authority, such as police and rescue staff, had fought the fires. In a social media post, the minister said 311 homes had been destroyed or seriously damaged during the monthlong blazes and 85 temporary housing units were set up across three western provinces for those made homeless.

Speaking after Friday prayers, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey was "faced with a truly great disaster.” He said that 25,000 personnel were fighting fires across the country, assisted by 27 planes, 105 helicopters and 6,000 ground vehicles. Turkey has faced widespread outbreaks of forest fires since late June. Thirteen people have died, including 10 rescue volunteers and forestry workers killed Wednesday in a fire in Eskisehir, western Turkey.