Volunteers have mobilised to provide food, water and other essentials to hundreds of people displaced by devastating wildfires in Jijel province, northeastern Algeria, as emergency shelters remain crowded with families who have lost their homes. Schools in the affected municipalities of Djemaa Beni Habibi and Bordj Tahar have been converted into temporary shelters, with volunteers collecting and distributing basic supplies including water, bread and milk. One displaced resident, Nawara Bouhanach, described fleeing for her life as the flames spread through her community. “I have nothing left. I no longer have a house, I no longer have a village,” she said, describing the destruction left behind by the fires.
At Taleb Abdelkrim School, one of the temporary shelters in Djemaa Beni Habibi, volunteer Saïd Bouzit said around 800 people were staying at the facility, although the exact number remained difficult to establish. Medical teams have also been deployed to the shelters to treat displaced residents, many of whom fled with little or no belongings. The fires have killed at least 12 people and injured dozens, while destroying homes and damaging villages across affected areas. Authorities have been working to contain the fires and assess the full extent of the damage. The scale of the displacement has placed pressure on local communities, but residents and volunteers have responded by organising food collections, transport and emergency assistance for families in need. For those sheltering in schools, however, the immediate priority remains finding safe accommodation and beginning the difficult process of rebuilding their lives after the fires.
