Fire risk increases day by day

NEWS CENTER

Forest fires in Izmir, Manisa and Bilecik were brought under control.

The government's spectatorship in the face of the fires that are clearly coming has caused great destruction in the regions. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı, in a post he made on his social media account regarding the forest fires that have been occurring in recent days, said, "The fires in İzmir's Seferihisar and Menderes, Manisa's Akhisar, Kula and Saruhanlı, and Bilecik's Vezirhan district have been completely brought under control. In Hatay's Antakya and Manisa's Ahmetli districts, control has been achieved to a large extent, and our cooling efforts continue with determination."

The fires that have been affecting Izmir for days have also brought with them ecological and economic destruction. Izmir Planning Agency (IZPA) officials announced that the fires, especially affecting the Seferihisar and Menderes regions, have caused serious habitat losses. According to the data, species specific to the region have disappeared, and approximately 50 thousand small cattle lost their natural feeding areas in the burned agricultural, forest and pasture areas. The flames, which reduced 10 thousand hectares of land to ashes, also negatively affected beekeeping and olive cultivation activities.

LIVING AREAS LOST

İZPA Deputy General Manager Aykut Uçar stated that the regions in Menderes and Seferihisar are important agricultural basins and said: "The western and eastern slopes of the Karakoç and Orhanlı streams ecological units burned. We lost not only forest areas but also agricultural areas. In these areas, palm olives, especially the palm olive groves grown in Karaburun and this region, were damaged. However, animal husbandry was the most affected by the forest fires. We estimate that around 50 thousand small cattle were affected by the fire." Uçar stated that palm olive, fruit and vegetable gardens were also affected by the fire and said, "It is of great importance that these areas are quickly repaired and returned to nature and the villagers."

Dr. Ufuk Özkan, İZPA Science Board Member and İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forestry Engineering, stated that 87 percent of forest fires are caused by humans and said: "Climate conditions are not in our favor in the Mediterranean Basin. Rainfall in İzmir has decreased by 45 percent, water resources in the basins are almost depleted and we have not received any rain in June. Drought, the drying effect of the wind and low humidity seriously increase the risk of fire ."

LIVING AREAS LOST

Alper Yılmaz, Head of Forest Fire Fighting Department of General Directorate of Forestry (OGM), said, "399 of the 401 fires we experienced between June 27 and July 1 have been extinguished. We are in a period where we need to be careful as of today. Because according to the meteorological risk map, there will be serious winds in our country for a 3-day period on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday."

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DECLARED A DISASTER ZONE

AFAD declared the districts affected by the forest fires in İzmir and Bilecik as "Disaster Areas Affecting General Life". While damage was detected in 297 buildings in the fires, 1,149 animals lost their lives. A total of 60 million liras was sent to İzmir and Bilecik, and 2 million liras to Manisa as emergency aid. Damage assessment and aid efforts are ongoing.