A new fire broke out Wednesday near a western Turkish thermal power plant that rescuers have been trying to save in the second week of deadly blazes ravaging the country, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

The fire appeared at the foot of a hill in front of the Yenikoy Kemerkoy power plant, near the Aegean Sea town of Milas.

Huge plumes of yellow smoke billowed over the plant, partially covering its chimney from view.

The main opposition party in control of the local mayor's office said hydrogen tanks used to cool the plant had been emptied and filled with water as a precaution.

The new blazes broke out after rescuers used helicopters and water cannon to beat back the first wave of blazes that reached the plant on Tuesday afternoon.

The plant operates using coal and fuel oil, officials told AFP.

The wildfires, Turkey's strongest in at least two decades, have killed eight people since breaking out last Wednesday.