Forest Fire in Turkey: 11 June 1999
11 June 1999
Report by GFMC correspondent Ertugrul Bilgili, Trabzon University:
A forest fire struck in the vicinity of Marmaris, Mugla at 13:54 in a Pinus brutia stand on Thursday, consuming 55 ha of forest. The initial attack crews were on the site of the fire at 14:10, however, the fire escaped the initial attack and was under control at 18:30 same day. High to extreme fire weather conditions (upto 80 km wind speed and low relative humidity) contributed to the spread and growth of the fire and, made the control efforts very difficult.
To fight the fire 32 fire brigades (mostly initial attack forces), 600 fire workers, 2 helicopters, 50 fire trucks, 10 bulldozers, 30 technical personnel (foresters), 400 soldiers and about 300 people from the public participated.
The fire is, for now, assumed to be cased by a nearby power line.
This part concerns the overall fire situation in Turkey:
Total number of fires to date this year : 345 (last year: 240)
Area burned : 555.29 ha (last year: 798.26 ha)
