Izmir Metropolitan Municipality continues its works in order to prevent possible disasters at the first moment after the forest fires in the past years. Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç SoyerHe said that thanks to precautions and inspections, approximately 13 percent of 235 thousand 95 fires were extinguished in the last year.
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, which implemented the Smart Warning System, Turkey's first and only artificial intelligence application in this field, expanded the Emergency Izmir application and added a Fire Warning Module to the application.
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality continues its forest mobilization, which it started in order to prevent possible disasters at the first moment after the forest fires in the past years. Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç Soyer“Thanks to our measures, inspections and new practices we have implemented, we have managed to extinguish 13 thousand 235, 12 percent, of 507 thousand 94,50 fires that have occurred in Izmir in the last year, while they are at their initial stage. We are aware of the importance of creating a resilient city under the threat of the climate crisis and we continue our work in line with this goal.”
Emergency Izmir fire alarm module
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality also developed the Emergency Izmir Mobile application, which enables citizens to reach the Fire Brigade teams by sending their location from their mobile phones in case of disasters.
"Fire Warning Module" has been added to the application. Thus, citizens will also be part of the system and will contribute to the rapid response of firefighters to the fire by sending the photo and location of the fire to the application.
The works carried out by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality to quickly respond to forest fires are as follows:
Quick response to forest fires with the Intelligent Warning System
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality launched the Intelligent Notification System (AIS), the first in its field in Turkey, in April. The system can detect even the weakest smoke thanks to the cameras that monitor 12 percent of the forest areas in 46 radio towers with real-time image processing technology “artificial intelligence”. Both the image and location of the detected fire are sent to the teams by the system. Thus, fires can be prevented at the initial stage.
New watch points from the Fire Department
In order to quickly respond to fires in forest villages and rural areas, guard points were established in Bergama's Yukarıbey, Ödemiş's Kaymakçı and Gölcük, Menderes's Ahmetbeyli, Buca's Kırıklar, Balçova's Cable Car, and Karaburun's Küçükbahçe regions. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Fire Brigade Department is ready for possible fires with 24 vehicles and 30 firefighting personnel at 57 stations in 293 districts, 365 hours a day.
Police teams also support
Especially in the summer months, the municipal police personnel of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality conduct inspections in forest areas. The teams keep the critical points under control with the help of drones, and they carry out the controls during the periods when it is forbidden to enter the forests.
Forest Science Board was created
The Forest Science Board, which was established with the joint decision of 11 metropolitan mayors from CHP, continues its work after the great forest fires that were effective in the Mediterranean and Aegean regions. Consisting of 13 experts and academics from different fields, the scientific committee provides consultancy to local governments in their efforts to protect and sustain forests.
Forest Volunteers team established
A 200-person Forest Volunteers Team was established with the support of forest villagers and civil society in order to respond strongly, consciously and in a planned manner to possible fires. Some of the volunteers take part in the response to forest fires and contribute to the fire extinguishing, fire control and cooling efforts of the firefighters within the framework of safety rules. A group of volunteers work to protect and restore forests and actively support field research and restoration programs before or after a fire.
“One Sapling One World” campaign
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality launched a solidarity campaign called "One Sapling, One World" in order to ensure that the green cover of the city can renew itself after the fire. With the support of the people of Izmir to the campaign, non-wood forest products such as pasture, honey and forest fruits are supported as an alternative to wood production in afforestation areas. Instead of planting uniform saplings, forest restorations that increase biodiversity and are resistant to fire are carried out. In the nursery established in Torbalı, seedlings of landscape plants that are resistant to fire and do not require irrigation are grown.
Forest Villages and Rural Area Fires Branch Office was established
The Forest Villages and Rural Area Fires Branch Directorate was established for the first time in Turkey under the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Fire Brigade Department. This branch focuses on forest villages and rural areas at risk of fire, as forest firefighting services require a separate specialization. Therefore, it works as a special fire department specialized in extinguishing forest fires. Izmir Metropolitan Municipality will sign a cooperation protocol in the coming days with the cooperation of Aegean Forest Foundation and Turkish Forestry Association to work on fire resistant villages.
Fire tanker to forest quarters
Izmir Metropolitan Municipality distributed 122 fire tankers to forest neighborhoods for the first response to possible fires. A total of 313 tankers were delivered to the villages with the tankers coming from the closed Special Provincial Administration. Thus, fires in forest areas far from the center were extinguished before they started with the intervention of the villagers in a short time.
A protocol was signed with 12 NGOs for disaster-ready Izmir
It signed a cooperation protocol with Izmir Search and Rescue Associations and 3 municipalities with the slogan "Izmir Ready for Disaster", aimed at making the city resistant to disasters and speeding up the response to emergencies.
Disaster Coordination Center Directorate was established
This month, the Disaster Coordination Center Directorate was established under the Fire Brigade Department to ensure cooperation and coordination with municipal units and public institutions before, during and after the disaster. The Directorate will continue to work within the framework of the Turkey Emergency Response Plan, the Izmir Emergency Action Plan and the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Urgent Action Plan.
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