The average first response time was 410 minutes in a total of 15 forest fires that broke out in Turkey in June and July of this year.
The General Directorate of Forestry, affiliated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, increased its measures against the possibility of forest fires with the increase in temperatures.
The newest technologies are used for early warning, which is the main principle of firefighting. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are used in many risky areas, perform important tasks in the protection of the green homeland thanks to their thermal cameras. With the thermal cameras on the UAVs, areas with the possibility of fire are detected and an intervention plan is prepared by integrating them with the data obtained from the meteorology. With the guidance of fire experts, rapid intervention is carried out at these points.
Apart from this, smart fire watchtowers also contribute to the fight. Unmanned towers using artificial intelligence detect fires remotely and transfer them to the management center. In the light of this data, the teams quickly move to that point and extinguish the fire. In this way, the response time to fires is shortened.
The average first response time was 213 minutes in a total of 1 forest fires, 21 in June and 197 on 410-15 July.
124 aircraft, 301 helicopters, 688 first response vehicles, 1613 water sprinklers and 146 dozers were used to fight these fires.
12 thousand 316 personnel took part in the fires. 4 thousand 570 hectares of forest area was damaged in June, and 1 hectares of forest area was damaged on 21-1200 July.
NEGLIGENCE AND CAUTION ORDER FIRST
Of the 410 fires in the period in question, 118 were caused by negligence and carelessness, 79 by lightning, 30 by accident, and 22 by intention. The exact cause of 161 of the fires could not be determined.
The perpetrator of 62 of the fires was identified and judicial proceedings were initiated.
According to fire statistics, major forest fires in the country usually occur in July and August.
TECHNICAL STUDY TO INCREASING THE RESISTANCE OF FORESTS TO FIRE
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Vahit Kirişci stated that the human factor came to the fore in forest fires and said, “About 90 percent of forest fires in the country were caused by humans. For this reason, within the scope of prevention activities, we carry out training and awareness-raising activities for all layers of the society to reduce the human factor that causes fires.” said.
Underlining that they organize organizations such as Breath for the Future and National Afforestation Day to increase the love of forests, Kirişci said, “We also carry out technical studies to increase the resistance of forests against fires and reduce the load of combustible materials in forests. We are trying to prevent fires originating from settlements or agricultural lands from spreading to forests by creating strips of fire-resistant species between settlements and agricultural lands and forests in fire-sensitive areas.” made its assessment.
Kirişci underlined that they see the protection of forests, which are the values of the country, from fires with the slogan of “green homeland” as a defense of the homeland, and stated that all the means of technology are used to support the forest personnel working 7 hours a day, 24 days a week. Kirişci added that the fires were detected early and the flames were intervened quickly and effectively.
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