Shaken by days of wildfires last year, Türkiye is relieved to go through a high season of forest fires with less damage this year. So far, about 1,800 forest fires have been reported in the country, compared to 2,800 between January and early October in 2021.

Bekir Karacabey, head of the Directorate General of Forestry, says a total of 12,210 hectares of land were damaged in the fires. "We see the public acting more cautiously, more sensitively," Karacabey said.

However, 2021 was one of the worst years in recent memory, both for Türkiye and the world, in terms of disasters related to climate change, with a rise in the size of areas affected by drought and the high number of forest fires and floods. The risk will likely linger in the future, experts warn, citing the prevailing fallout from climate change.

Karacabey told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Tuesday that last year, especially June, was a period of aggravated forest fires, citing Dixie Fire which lasted for more than 100 days in California, United States. "Türkiye feels the impact of climate change as well, in every field," he added.

Yet, this year was less damaging, according to Karacabey, in terms of wildfires. But the figures he gave show forests in the Mediterranean region are more susceptible to the fires. The Mediterranean region’s hot climate, coupled with strong winds, makes it more vulnerable to forest fires, which quickly grow. Muğla, in southwestern Türkiye, had the highest number of forest fires with 189 cases, ahead of neighboring Antalya, where 165 fires occurred and the western province of Izmir, which was gripped with 139 fires so far in 2022. In Muğla, fires damaged 5,593 hectares of land, while this number was 156 hectares in Antalya and 645 hectares in Izmir.

"We did not have weather conditions that could have fueled fires as much this year. As a matter of fact, we were successful in tackling fires last year despite all negative developments," he said. "We had a strong fleet and enough personnel but fighting the force of nature is not easy regardless of your strength," he said. "Having successive droughts, the driest month in last 140 years (in July) and eruption of forest fires in 747 locations in 54 provinces disrupted all our preparations and plans for response to fires. There is no power in the world to respond to such a combination of factors in the most effective way," he said.

As climate change prolongs, Karacabey said meteorological conditions improved in the past five years, but still, the number of fires and size of burned areas increased. He noted that 5,644 hectares of land burned in 2,167 fires in 2018 across Türkiye, while this number rose to 2,688 fires in 2019 that devastated 11,332 hectares of land. In 2020, the number of fires was 3,399 and destroyed lands covering 20,971 hectares. Last year, 139,503 hectares of land were damaged in 2,793 fires across the country.

Karacabey said they held workshops in the aftermath of last year’s fires to brainstorm a better response to blazes. "We implemented the ideas discussed in the workshop this year. For instance, 25,000 personnel of our directorate had their training renewed. We established a special unit of 640 personnel and they underwent training like commandos do, on how to act in rough, inaccessible terrain in case of forest fires."

He also noted that they reinforced their air power, increasing the number of firefighting airplanes from three to 20 and the number of helicopters from 39 to 55, while their drone fleet monitoring the fires was raised to eight from four. "In addition, the water capacity of the air force was increased to 302 tons from 154 tons," he said, referring to the amount of water deployed momentarily on burning areas from the air. The directorate also has a reserve force of two airplanes, 25 helicopters and two drones supplied by the Ministry of National Defense and Interior Ministry. "Overall, we have a fleet of 118 vehicles in the air." But he noted that land force is still essential in response to fires. "We had 21,000 personnel last year and now we have 25,000. In 2023, we will recruit an additional 5,000 personnel," he said. He added that the average response time to forest fires stood at around 14 minutes, which was shortened to 11 minutes in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions.

Fires, though not uncommon, appear to have increased in intensity, something blamed on strong winds spreading them and soaring 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.

Last year, 2,793 forest fires were reported. Most of them, as was the case in the past, took place during the summer season. Most of the huge fires were in Antalya and Muğla, two southern provinces on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The deadly blazes claimed at least eight lives. The wildfires prompted a nationwide mobilization to help the burned-down villages and triggered a debate on the country’s response to such massive fires. The forest fires that erupted in more than 500 locations in two provinces lasted for days, the longest for 15 days, causing the evacuation of villages in Manavgat, the worst-hit district in Antalya, as well as evacuations from Bodrum and Marmaris, two popular vacation destinations in the neighboring Muğla province.