Flames in Bilecik Fire Turned Historical Village into Ashes

In the Köprücek village of Bilecik’s Gölpazarı district, one of the oldest settlements from the Ottoman period, 10 out of 12 houses burned down. Solmaz Ünver, who rushed to help from neighboring villages during the fire, said that the village dates back to the 1500s and is one of the oldest settlements in the region. Stating that they could not save the village from the flames, Ünver said, “It was a village that was used a lot during the Ottoman period. You can see it from these structures. Unfortunately, this fire reduced this place to ashes. The winds were very strong. Frankly, we could not prevent it. From the first day, we brought water here with our tankers and tractors and provided water assistance to our friends working in the fire department here. But since it was a huge fire, we could only help by transferring water from tanker to tanker.”

'WE SAW MANY LIVING BEINGS BURNING HERE'

Ünver, who said that the only consolation they had was that there was no loss of life in Köprücek, said that the villagers made great efforts to save their animals. Ünver said, “Conscientious citizens came here from Gölpazarı with their cars, we carried the animals and placed them in the surrounding villages. There was no loss of life. Let's say there was a complete loss of property. We saw many living creatures burn here. We witnessed this firsthand. I saw a flying bird burn and fall. Similar tragedies occurred in other villages. Of course, the fact that the fire was so extensive left us in a very difficult situation. Efforts to cool the fire are currently ongoing. Our mayor, district governorships, and law enforcement officers are constantly helping our neighbors here. This is all we can do right now.”

'THE BURNING ANIMAL FALLS INTO THE WHEAT FIELD, AND THE FIELD STARTS TO BURN'

Ünver, who stated that the village, which draws attention with its historical past, was a place where the sultan's soldiers were trained during the Ottoman period, said the following:

“A village that trained the soldiers of the Sultan. A village that trained many soldiers, fighters. In those years, this was a very different village. A population of 60-70 households lived here. Until 1576, the number of households here was 176. In the last Ottoman census, it dropped to 76 households. It is very sad that the history of this place is lost. I hope this history is kept alive. We could not hold back our tears because it was a very sad event. A burnt animal falls into a wheat field, the wheat field starts to burn. There are herds of pigs, we saw the animals running away. We saw how they ran away at that terrifying moment. It was a very sad event for us. May God not let anyone experience such a disaster. It is really very dramatic.”

DHA

Reporter: News Center