Lessons not learned from last year's devastating wildfires in Marmaris

Photo: Ministers, Kirişçi and Soylu, watching the fire

Click to read the article in Turkish

The forest fire that broke out in the Bördübet area of Muğla's Marmaris district on Tuesday evening (June 21) has been continuing for four days.

Marmaris Mayor Mehmet Oktay said, "The fire could not be brought under control by the end of the third day," and stated that "all teams at the crossroads are working to open a corridor" to prevent the fire from spreading further.

Throughout the week, the efforts to extinguish the fire did not yield results due to strong winds.

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Vahit Kirişci said, "We cannot say that the fires are under control."

Satellite view, red region is the burning region, red box is the place that the fire broke out

Strong wind, insufficient preparations and aircraft

According to the information given by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on June 22, the fire was started deliberately due to a dispute between members of a family with the aim of revenge.

However, due to the inability to respond to the fire on time and insufficient power from the ground, the fire could not be brought under control as we enter the fourth day today (June 24). It continues to spread. Continuous high-speed winds are also preventing the fire from being extinguished.

MGM: The wind will continue

According to the General Directorate of Meteorology's (MGM) weather forecast report, a decrease in air temperature is not expected in Marmaris and the wind speed, which is considered the biggest disadvantage in controlling the fire, will not decrease, either.

Devastated areas

The forest fire, which has entered the fourth day in Marmaris, has destroyed 4,000 hectares of red pine forest and killed almost all living things in the forest.

The scope of the fire, which covered some 200-300 hectares on the first day, increased to 1,000-1,100 hectares on the second day and jumped to 4,000 hectares on the third day.

Minister Kirişci, stated that 103 families and 274 individuals were evacuated.

"We will have registered 10 helicopters with night vision into our inventory on July 4. The number of our helicopters will increase to 55, 10 of which will have night vision, and our planes to 20," said the Minister.

CHP Deputy's claims

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İzmir Deputy Murat Bakan, who is also a pilot, argued that the alleged number of planes and helicopters is not accurate and they are not being used.

Bakan said that when the fire was one kilometer away from President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's summer palace in Okluk, a helicopter suddenly arrived in the region.

He also ridiculed Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu's statement about the feature of "night vision" helicopters. "It's the pilot's helmet, not the helicopter with night vision," he said.

At the start of the month, 17 forest fires had occurred within one week in Muğla. It was one of two hardest-hit provinces in last year's massive wildfires.

Prof. Doğanay Tolunay : We are not prepared for forest fires

Hikmet Adal from bianet interviewed Prof. Doğanay Tolunay from İstanbul University Faculty of Forestry about Turkey's preparations for forest fires in 2022.

According to Prof. Tolunay, the only change made for this year is the increased number of aircraft and helicopters compared to 2021. He briefly shared the following observations with bianet:

"Every year the General Directorate of Forestry prepares an action plan for forest fires. However, it remains on paper, and is never realized.
"An action plan has been prepared for 2022, but unfortunately there are no efficient control mechanisms for that.
"2 thousand 270 first responder vehicles, 1065 sprinklers, 185 dozers, and 263 graders are going to be used, but it is not enough.
"Local teams are very important in fighting forest fires. The vehicles to be used on the ground are also very important. The roads should be ready for those vehicles to be able to enter the fire areas.
"For instance they should inform the public, educate them about the causes of fires, and the municipalities should work in cooperation with other public institutions. They should conduct more fire drills. Unfortunately, we are not ready for forest fires.

CLICK - Sixty-five percent of last decade's forest losses in Turkey occurred in 2021 wildfires

CLICK - Is Turkey ready for forest fires?

(AEK/TB/SD)

4TH DAY OF MARMARIS WILDFIRES