Eight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have helped Türkiye’s Directorate General of Forestry around the clock both across the country and in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Combing an area of 12.5 million hectares per minute, they serve as early warning systems against forest fires.

Bekir Karacabey, head of the directorate, said they also facilitate their job with live, close-up video feeds of burning areas inaccessible to firefighters.

With the increase in temperatures, the government has increased measures against the possibility of forest fires. The latest technologies are used for early warning, which is the main principle of firefighting. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), used in many risky areas, perform important tasks in protecting the green homeland thanks to their thermal cameras. With the thermal cameras on the UAVs, areas with the high possibility of fire are detected and an intervention plan is prepared by integrating them with the data from meteorology. With the guidance of fire experts, rapid intervention is carried out at these points.

Drones can reach an altitude of 23,000 feet, giving a broad view of the burning area and “heat points” where the fire is at its worst and points where intervention is possible.

Karacabey told Demirören News Agency (DHA) on Monday that their directorate employs advanced technology among other public agencies and drones were both used against fires and for other forestry services. “Türkiye is the first country after the United States to use UAVs in the fight against forest fires. They feed the footage they obtain to our headquarters and mobile crews observing forests under risk. The footage helps us to better respond, as we can clearly see the roads and our available vehicles in areas near fires,” he said.

Karacabey added that they were also working on a project for use of artificial intelligence (AI) in fire behavior modeling for response to forest fires.

Apart from this, smart fire watchtowers also contribute to the fight. Unmanned towers using artificial intelligence detect fires remotely and transfer the information to the management center. In light of this data, the teams quickly move to that point and extinguish the fire. In this way, the response time to fires has shortened.

The average first response time was 15 minutes in 410 forest fires, 213 in June and 197 between July 1-21. Around 124 aircraft, 301 helicopters, 688 first response vehicles, 1,613 water sprinklers and 146 dozers were used to fight these fires.

Wildfires, aggravated by the fallout from climate change, threaten Türkiye's evergreen land. The country saw 226,845 hectares of forests damaged or completely burned between 2012 and 2021, with more than 61% of this loss taking place in 2021 alone. Data from the Directorate General of Forestry shows that 27,150 forest fires occurred across the country in the past decade. Fires, though not uncommon, appear to have increased in intensity, something blamed on strong winds spreading them and searing temperatures further aggravating the situation. Though last year may seem the worst in terms of the size of the forests that succumbed, the highest number of fires occurred in 2013, at 3,755, one year before the country recorded its least fires in a decade at 2,149.

Though last year was worst in terms of the number and size of forest fires, Türkiye ended the summer with no major fires except a three-day blaze in Marmaris, a southwestern town that also suffered in the 2021 fires. Yet, experts warn that the risk continues even in September. Professor Ömer Küçük, deputy rector of Kastamonu University and an expert in the preservation of forests, says the autumn was a time of strong winds and fire risk would prevail especially in Aegean and Mediterranean regions up until mid-October. "This year was better compared to the past two years and the main reason (for lack of major fires) is the absence of unusual meteorological conditions. Fast response to the fires compared to the past also contributes to the absence of major fires," he told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday. "Some European countries suffered from major fires this year, especially in times of very high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds. Türkiye usually has fires in July and August. "Especially the first two weeks of September can have extreme weather conditions," he warned.

Agencies