Smoke and flames from wildfire rose on Thursday (July 23) in the Bordj Okhriss area, in northern Algeria's Bouira province, as firefighters and volunteers worked to contain the blaze.

Volunteers helped Civil Protection personnel extinguish the fire, using tree branches and supporting firefighting efforts to prevent the flames from spreading to residential areas.

The head of Bouira’s Main Civil Protection Unit, Sofiane Rebiai, said strong winds had contributed to the spread of the fire, adding that teams had intervened quickly to stop it from reaching a nearby village.

The Algerian Civil Protection said in a statement on social media on Thursday that 138 fires had been recorded in the past 24 hours across various provinces. Firefighters had extinguished 107 of them and were working to contain the remaining blazes, it added.

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Smoke and flames rise in northern Algeria as firefighters tackle wildfire

VIDEO SHOWS: SMOKE AND FLAMES RISING FROM WILDFIRE IN BORDJ OKHRISS TOWN IN NORTHERN ALGERIA'S BOUIRA PROVINCE / VOLUNTEERS AND FIREFIGHTERS EXTINGUISHING FIRE / SOUNDBITES FROM A LOCAL VOLUNTEER AND THE HEAD OF THE MAIN CIVIL PROTECTION UNIT IN BOUIRA PROVINCE

RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT.

SHOWS: BORDJ OKHRISS, BOUIRA PROVINCE, ALGERIA (JULY 23, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF SMOKE AND FLAMES FROM WILDFIRE RISING

2. VARIOUS OF VOLUNTEERS BEATING OUT FLAMES WITH TREE BRANCHES / FLAMES AND SMOKE RISING

3. FLAMES AND SMOKE BILLOWING

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LOCAL VOLUNTEER, MARA BELKACEM, SAYING:

"We are surrounding the fire to prevent it from spreading to the residential areas. I call on the residents of Sour El-Ghozlane town to support us in fighting the flames, hand in hand. Algeria comes first."

5. VARIOUS OF BELKACEM BEATING OUT FLAMES WITH TREE BRANCH / FLAMES AND SMOKE RISING

6. VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS PULLING HOSE FROM FIREFIGHTING TRUCK

7. FIREFIGHTERS AT SCENE / SMOKE AND FLAMES RISING BEHIND THEM

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF BOUIRA'S MAIN CIVIL PROTECTION UNIT, SOFIANE REBIAI, SAYING:

"The fire started in the morning and was not widespread. Currently, there are strong winds, which caused it to spread. We managed to contain it to prevent it from spreading further, and we quickly intervened to prevent it from reaching this neighbouring village near dense forests."

9. VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS USING WATER HOSES TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE

10. VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS PULLING HOSE THROUGH SMOKE

11. FIREFIGHTERS USING WATER HOSES

12. VARIOUS OF FIRE AND SMOKE RISING / CIVIL PROTECTION PERSONNEL WALKING WHILE HOLDING TREE BRANCH

13. CIVIL PROTECTION PERSONNEL BEATING OUT FLAMES WITH TREE BRANCHES / SMOKE BILLOWING

14. FIRE BURNING / THICK SMOKE RISING

15. VARIOUS OF SMOKE RISING