Wildfires have destroyed acres of farms in Bani Qora in Morocco’s northern Taounate province amid soaring temperatures, according to officials from Morocco’s National Agency for Waters and Forests.

Morocco’s state broadcaster 2M reported that the flames also spread to farmers’ fields in Bani Qora in the same province. No casualties were recorded in the blaze, which erupted in al-Ghararsa forest, according to officials.

“The fire mobilised firefighting teams, local volunteers, authorities, and gendarmerie units, whose combined efforts worked to extinguish it,” the agency said on Monday.

Wildfire warning

On Saturday, Morocco’s National Agency for Waters and Forests warned residents in forest-adjacent areas across several northern and eastern provinces of possible wildfires between Sunday and Wednesday, amid forecasts of a heat wave with temperatures reaching 46°C (114.8F).

Morocco has been battling to contain several outbreaks of wildfires. Last Monday, authorities fought to extinguish forest fires in the northern Chefchaouen province.

Witnesses said the forested mountainous terrain has made it harder for firefighters to control the flames, Anadolu news agency reports.

Abderrahim Houmy, director of the National Water and Forest Agency, told Anadolu that the fires have destroyed 500 hectares of forest in that incident and that the fires “among the largest in the country in 2025.”

Authorities estimated that in 2024, some 382 wildfires destroyed about 874 hectares of forest, an 82% decrease compared to 2023.

Forests cover roughly 12% of Morocco’s territory, which experiences fires of varying severity each year depending on weather conditions and human activity.