On Saturday 19 May the weather in Fethiye went crazy.  By mid-afternoon it was blowing a gale, bringing down branches, and in some places whole trees, and whipping up clouds of dust from building sites and unpaved roads.  The winds continued with such force that the huge speakers hung from a framework on the front of the stage for the concert in the market place, were swinging back and forth.

The wind continued and by midnight was fanning the flames of fires in Calis, around the Letoonia Resort and inland at Kemer, Yaka village and Alacat on the main road to Patara.  Given the ferocity of the wind, and the dry conditions, it is easy to see how any, or all, of the fires could have been caused by discarded cigarettes.

The fire around Kemer destroyed 300 hectares of forest and took all night to put out with around 1000 firefighters from as far away as Denizli and Aydin being called out to help.