Preventive Evacuations in Tipasa as Wildfires Threaten Residential Areas

Preventive Evacuations in Tipasa as Wildfires Threaten Residential Areas

✍️ BY: Dr. Hana Saada

Algiers – November 2025 – In response to the rapid spread of forest fires across several communes of Tipasa, local authorities have undertaken a series of urgent preventive evacuations aimed at safeguarding families directly threatened by advancing flames. These anticipatory measures, implemented amid volatile winds and shifting fire fronts, reflect an assertive strategy prioritizing the protection of human life above all else.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Nassim Bernaoui, Deputy Director of Statistics and Information at the General Directorate of Civil Protection (DGPC), a total of 55 families were relocated as a precaution. The scale of the operation underscores the severity of the situation and the swift coordination deployed to secure vulnerable populations.

In Messelmoune, 25 families were moved to the local multi-purpose sports hall prepared to accommodate displaced residents. In Hadjrat Ennous, 10 families were similarly transferred to a designated sports hall, while in Boukhlifa, a locality under the commune of El Arhat, 20 families were provisionally rehoused at the Gouraya Youth Center. Authorities emphasized that all families were immediately taken into care, benefiting from material and social support until conditions permit their safe return. These relocations, they stressed, form part of a comprehensive preventive plan designed to mitigate risks as fire fronts intensify under the effect of strong winds.

Meanwhile, firefighting operations in the wilaya of Tipasa continue with unrelenting intensity. Several fire hotspots remain active, particularly in the Boukhildja forest in the commune of Larhat, and across the rugged massifs of Ammarcha and Douar Les Frères Morsli in Messelmoune. Additional wooded zones, including Bouzoula forest in Hadjret Ennous and Choula forest in Beni Milleuk, are also affected by the destructive blaze.

Confronted with the scale and complexity of the emergency, Civil Protection units have deployed a substantial response mechanism. A force of 266 agents, across all categories, is currently engaged on the ground, supported by 74 fire trucks of varying capacities. Reinforcements have been dispatched from multiple wilayas—including Médéa, Blida, Boumerdès, Chlef, Aïn Defla, Relizane, and the National Instruction and Intervention Unit of Dar El Beïda—reflecting a nationwide mobilization to contain the fires and shield both residents and endangered forest massifs.

As the situation evolves, authorities reaffirm their commitment to exhaustive vigilance and rapid intervention, determined to prevent further escalation and to protect the communities standing on the front line of this fierce environmental threat.