Hundreds of volunteers help crews tackling Turkey wildfires

Turkish actor Tevfik Erman Kutlu was on a break from filming in Istanbul when wildfires that devastated swaths of southern Turkey first erupted

MUGLA, Turkey -- Actor Tevfik Erman Kutlu was on a break from filming in Istanbul when wildfires that devastated swaths of southern Turkey first erupted. Desperate to play a part in efforts to put out the fires, he and five friends drove 725 kilometers (450 miles) to the coastal resort of Marmaris to lend a helping hand to combat the blazes. Once there, the friends formed a human chain helping to carry fire extinguishers, unfolded and rushed a firetruck’s hose to firefighters and even tackled a hillside fire themselves, dousing pressurized water on flames under the guidance of fire crews. “Instead of sitting at home and watching videos of the fires on social media, I wanted to be of use,” the 41-year-old film and television actor currently starring in a TV drama series about the mafia underworld, told The Associated Press.