'Water thrown from the plane only delays the fire, the real fight is done on the ground'

While Turkey is fighting forest fires, experts are also making warnings to prevent the fires from turning into disasters. Prof. Dr. Afşin Ahmet Kaya from Samsun OMÜ Disaster Education and Management Application and Research Center said, "Look, we may not be losing lives in the fires today, but we are damaging our trees, our animals living in the forest, the ecological balance and habitat there. All of this will come back to us. It will come back as damage. While a fire can be extinguished with 1 liter of water when it first breaks out, even 1,000 liters of water in the 10th minute is often of no use. Water thrown from an airplane only delays the fire, the real fight is done on the ground. Olive groves are burning, and these are plants that burn for a very long time. With simple measures, perhaps we can support these forest trees in our forests, which burn so quickly, with tree species that can resist burning a little more by changing their species."

Kaya, who stated that residential areas in the forest pose a danger, said, "A 6-meter gap is a must around houses. The trees around the houses must be thinned out. Branches can come together at the top and spread the fire without being seen. The fire starts from the dry grass on the side of the road like a ladder; it spreads to the bush and then to the tree. Just as we have learned to stop at red lights and pass at green lights as a country, we will also learn the secret of living safely and apply it to our lives. Because without education and culture, place cameras everywhere. UAVs, guns, helicopters from above, water tenders from below, a million search and rescue teams are useless. Technology is useless if we do not have a security culture. We cannot assign police to every forest. Citizens should not throw their garbage and glass bottles into the forest, they should not light a fire at a picnic. Precautions should be taken before the fire turns into a disaster."

DHA

Reporter: News Center