While precautions are being increased to prevent forest fires as temperatures rise, experts state that the causes of fires include; unconsciousness, carelessness, negligence, sabotage, unplanned urbanization, and natural events. It is highlighted that forest fires are more frequently observed in the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Marmara regions, and it is emphasized that 90% of forest fires are human-caused. Dr. Rüştü Uçan states that the most important step is public awareness and taking all precautions before a fire. Expert Abdurrahman İnce, who provides 'Investigation of Fire Causes' training, lists the steps to be followed in firefighting efforts and underlines the need for rapid reforestation of burned areas and intensified inspection of these areas.
Precautions should be taken at all times, not just during fire season
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences (SBF) Head of Occupational Health and Safety Department Dr. Lecturer Rüştü Uçan provided important information about the causes of forest fires we frequently encounter and how they can be prevented. Occupational Health and Safety Expert at the Health Sciences Institute, and 'Investigation of Fire Causes' trainer, Lecturer Abdurrahman İnce, evaluated the methods followed in firefighting efforts and what needs to be done afterward.
90 percent of fires are human-caused…
SBF Head of Occupational Health and Safety Department Dr. Lecturer Rüştü Uçan stated that unconsciousness, carelessness, negligence, sabotage, terrorism, unplanned urbanization, natural events, accidents, power transmission lines, cleaning fires, and population mobility are among the causes of forest fires. He added, “In our country, forest fires are frequently observed, especially during summer months, in the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Marmara regions, where population growth is high and forest assets are abundant, due to increasing temperatures, winds, decreasing humidity, and increased agricultural and tourism activities. The fact that 90 percent of forest fires are human-caused and 10 percent are natural shows that the human factor is very important.”
It is possible to stop climate change
Drawing attention to climate change, which triggers the natural causes of forest fires, Dr. Uçan said, “There is a way to stop climate change. By giving up some habits in our daily lives, we can make a positive contribution to preventing climate change. We must minimize our carbon footprint. We need to work on public awareness and education. Promoting renewable energy sources and limiting the use of fossil fuels are also necessary. We can carry out afforestation and greening efforts as much as possible. Climate change is observed to cause fires because it leads to increases in average temperatures, decreases in precipitation, and imbalances in other weather events.”
Dr. Uçan: “The most important step is public awareness”
Emphasizing the importance of public awareness to prevent forest fires, Dr. Lecturer Rüştü Uçan said, “Training should be given by experts in the field through mass media or face-to-face education. Volunteer firefighting should be popularized, and educational and warning information should be provided to people living in settlements in sensitive areas. Inspections of forested areas should be intensified during the summer period. Entry and exit to forest areas should be closed. In the summer, easily flammable materials should not be present in parts of areas used by humans, such as houses, gardens, and businesses, that are close to the forest boundary.”
“A buffer zone should be created between forests and other areas”
Uçan continued, also addressing the need for extinguishing materials in rural areas in case of fire:
“Before the summer period, which is the forest fire season, flammable materials such as grass and bushes on both sides of highways and roads bordering forests should be cleared. Materials such as grass, trees, and bushes near power lines passing through forest areas should be cleared. Temperature warnings from meteorology should be announced to the public and all relevant institutions and organizations through all communication channels. A buffer zone should be created between forests and agricultural lands, and between zoned areas and forest areas. Unzoned structures and facilities within forests should not be allowed. Professionals such as shepherds, beekeepers, and hunters operating within forest areas should be given training on general forestry and fires. The number of forest rangers, forest guards, and law enforcement officers within and bordering forest areas should be increased, especially during the fire season.”
Step-by-step ‘How to extinguish a fire?’
Üsküdar Üniversitesi, Health Sciences Institute, Occupational Health and Safety Lecturer Abdurrahman İnce, who provides “Fire Investigation” specialized training to fire department managers who have been serving in Muğla province and its districts for an average of 17 years, reminded that the extinguishing of forest fires is assigned to the General Directorate of Forestry in the constitution and forest law. İnce listed the steps to be followed in firefighting efforts as follows:
-The General Directorate of Forestry should act in continuous cooperation and coordination with municipal fire departments, which are the largest local firefighting teams, in extinguishing efforts.
-The extinguishing of forest fires should not be left solely to the responsibility of the General Directorate of Forestry but should be coordinated as a holistic responsibility involving all relevant public, private sector, and NGOs.
-Emphasizing that a volunteer firefighting system should be established in all our forest villages (forest neighborhoods), considering the fact that 80% of forest fires start within or at most 100 meters away from forest villages and are human-caused, İnce stated that 80% of forest fires would be prevented if this system is established.
Muğla Fire Department Head Mehmet Karyağdı listed what needs to be done in the fight against forest fires:
-The goal of the teams carrying out forest fire extinguishing efforts should be solely focused on extinguishing, and their other needs should be met so they do not have to think about them.
-Forest firefighting efforts should be carried out 24 hours a day, both by air and by land.
-Extinguishing coordination should be carried out by the General Directorate of Forestry, and the coordination of all other needs contributing to extinguishing efforts should be carried out by AFAD.
-Support forces coming from provinces outside the province where the fire occurred and where extinguishing capabilities are insufficient should be coordinated by AFAD and the General Directorate of Forestry.
-Ground fires or fires with low energy, where working conditions will not harm people and vehicles, should be directly intervened by trained and certified personnel.
-The radio and other communication systems of all institutions intervening in forest fires must be shared.
-Vehicle tracking systems should be established to coordinate forest fire engines and other water tankers intervening in the fire area, and they should be coordinated from a common platform.
-No civilian elements should be allowed in the fire area other than the intervening teams.
-A sufficiently wide fire break should be opened around the fire with heavy equipment. In forest fires, the priority is to bring the fire under control. If the area around the burning forest is opened with a sufficiently wide strip, and the fire is kept within this area to prevent its spread, it should be expressed as 'the fire is under control.'
-In high-energy fires, especially rapidly advancing crown fires, where approaching the fire would not be safe or appropriate, bringing the fire under control without direct intervention usually happens by two methods. The first is a firefighting method using manpower, heavy equipment, and water tenders at an appropriate working distance, and the second, in situations where it is concluded that the fire cannot be stopped, is the backfire method to stop rapidly advancing and dangerous fires spreading over large areas, or at least to reduce the rate of fire spread.
-The number of fire first response teams that will serve throughout the fire season should be increased, and mobile teams should be deployed in sensitive areas.
-Citizens living in fire-sensitive areas should be given rapid training on fire-fighting vehicles such as heavy equipment, water tenders, and graders.
Karyağdı: “Precautions should be taken at all times, not just during fire season”
Lecturer Abdurrahman İnce, referring to what needs to be done and paid attention to after a fire, emphasized the need to be careful when re-entering a burned area due to the possibility of rekindling. İnce stated that the cause of the fire should be thoroughly investigated, and necessary precautions should be taken to prevent another fire for the same reason, concluding his words as follows:
“Afforestation and greening efforts in burned areas should be carried out considering the land structure and climate. Reforestation efforts in burned areas should be started quickly, and inspections of these areas should be intensified. Necessary precautions should be taken for secondary disasters such as floods due to erosion that may occur as a result of forest fires. Preventive activities for forest fires should begin from the autumn period when the fire season ends, and should not be compressed into a short period before summer. All public and private sector responsibilities should be carried out in coordination, continuously, and in cooperation with the General Directorate of Forestry. Importance should be given to taking preventive and protective measures not only during the forest fire season but also during other periods. The General Directorate of Forestry needs to increase its cooperation with all local stakeholders.”