Türkiye bolsters its firefighting fleet

ANKARA

A force of 21 firefighting aircraft, 94 helicopters, 25,000 trained personnel, and a staggering 120,000 dedicated volunteers are poised to combat the raging infernos and safeguard Türkiye’s precious woodlands this year, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced.

In his post-cabinet statement, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan drew attention to the need to protect the country’s forests against fires, which show an increase during the summer.

“In light of our past experiences, we have further strengthened our capacity to respond to fires this year. We want to get through the summer without our lungs burning,” Erdoğan said.

Within the scope of the new measures announced by Erdoğan, three T70 water-shooting helicopters produced domestically by Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ) will be used in the case of forest fires.

The first four of the 20 Airtractor model aircraft with a capacity of 3 tons, which are both amphibious and capable of taking water from the ground, will serve during forest fires this year, and the rest will join the fleet of the General Directorate of Forestry (OGM) within three years.

This year, 4,799 land vehicles (land rovers, construction equipment, first response vehicles), 63 helicopters, 19 airplanes and eight unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) will be utilized during forest fires.

Thirty-one helicopters, two aircraft and two UAVs from the National Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry have also been designated as reserve forces to be used in case of need.

In addition to the land and air fleet, OGM aims to increase the number of personnel assigned to respond to fires. While more than 25,000 trained personnel fight forest fires, 120,000 volunteers and Forest Search and Rescue Teams (ORKUT) consisting of 462 people in 30 regional directorates are also supporting the fight. OGM also aims to increase the number of ORKUT teams to 4,500.

The use of technology also plays a crucial role in early and effective response to forest fires. In order to detect fires earlier, 184 of the existing 776 towers were converted into smart towers, and 324 camera systems were installed.

These systems first identify the fire and then warn the personnel on duty. The software developed in Türkiye, known as "Fire Decision Support Systems," determines the possible locations that fires might spread to in the coming hours in advance, based on meteorological data.