Evaluation of Forest Fires in Disaster Management Focus

Abstract

It can be said that societies have been exposed to various disasters from past to present, and the diversity and frequency of disasters have changed with changing conditions. It is possible to classify disasters as natural and technological disasters in general. It is seen that forest fires, which are the subject of the study, are also included in the disaster classification. In the study conducted in this context; Forest fires in Turkey between 2005-2020; It is aimed to evaluate in terms of temporal, regional, causal and amount of burned area. In addition, it is aimed to evaluate the trends of internet users on forest fires between 2005 and 2020, in particular "Google Trends". In the study; It has been seen that negligence-accident events take the first place among the causes of forest fires. There is a statistically significant difference between province statuses in terms of the number of fires in 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019 (p<0.05). The number of fires in metropolitan cities in 2005, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019 is significantly higher. It can be said that preparation and response studies are important in firefighting, as in all disasters. It is thought that it is important to inspect the regions with high forest fire risk with technological tools, equip them in terms of extinguishing equipment, and raise the awareness of the citizens living in the region about fires. When the studies are examined within the framework of disaster management; Activities such as the construction of fire watchtowers and fire safety routes, the creation of sensitivity maps, the establishment or strengthening of early warning systems and the execution of awareness studies can be considered within the scope of risk management in the integrated disaster management system, while the activities such as extinguishing the fire, taking the necessary security measures and reforestation can be considered within the scope of crisis management.. As a result, it is predicted that the systematic operation of the stages of preparation, mitigation, response and improvement, which are the phases of the integrated disaster management model, will contribute to the reduction of possible fire damage and the prevention of forest fires.