It\'s time to approach forest fires with a strategic mind

Our people, who were forced into their homes due to the Covid-19 measures, attacked the seaside in the heat of July. He went into the sea to relax a little, tried to cool off. Is it possible for our people to cool off? Due to global warming and the natural hot environment our country lives in during the summer months, and the fires that cannot be extinguished, even the brains of our people warmed up and came to the point of explosion. Scientists have talked about global warming for years, and they have cried out in their articles or in various television programs that people, especially the elderly, will have to deal with the increasing health problems in the hot summer months. They said that a drought will come and the air will be scorched. They also warned from time to time that the air will be dry and forest fires will increase.

Turkish people live in their own world as if they are isolated from the world, indexed to their daily life from the people on the street to the bureaucracy at the top. I'm not even counting the politicians, because you know how you are governed. This sociological structure has invaded our business life and our management system. The effort of people who are worried about their money and struggling to earn more money plays a locomotive role in the cycle of the system. If not, we produce daily or palliative solutions to the problems we encounter in a cumbersome structure. More precisely, we think we are producing. However, everything that is presented as a temporary solution without much thought, will appear as a new problem tomorrow. If we do not accept this, our future does not promise a bright future, just as today is far from meeting the expectations of our people. We continue to undermine not only ourselves but also the future of new generations. This is our truth…. If we accept this and sincerely aim to correct the "disorder" in our sociological structure, I am of the opinion that most of the problems that have become gangrene in our country will be solved by themselves in a very short time.

Now, if we come to the present day…. Especially the southern coasts of our country are on fire, and the fires go up to İzmir. Southern winds (lodos, monkish and qibla) increase the effect of global warming with the hot air they carry, causing the air to dry and a suffocating weather to emerge. With such hot weather, our forests began to burn and our lungs began to scorch. Tens of thousands of living things, trees, animals, insects and even humans, whose voices we have not heard, were destroyed by fires. Our inner worlds were turned upside down as their images and silent screams appeared on social media, television and the press. I do not want to discuss here why the fires broke out and/or started. It is pointless for us to state here that the state's mind should step in and take the necessary precautions, and that the necessary sanctions and punishments should be given to those who set fires.

The government will take the necessary steps "for this year" with political will. Since we have reached the point of "when the fire hits the chimney", which kind of reflects the character of the Turkish people, those who sit in responsible positions will naturally do "something". What will they do? They will rent firefighting planes and helicopters. They will keep all foresters on guard in the mountains, and if necessary they will set up checkpoints with soldiers and police. They will somehow try to save this year by preventing some of the countless forest fires. They will cool the forests. If a north wind blows with their luck once in a while, they will take these winds behind them and relax. In a way, they will also cool our hearts. Have no doubts about it!

Let these forest fires stop, believe me, both those sitting in these responsible positions and we will forget these fires. As a people, we will forget. We are the ones who run to extinguish the fires as much as possible, donate, share to raise awareness, and sometimes watch the fires helplessly… Yes, we will forget about these fires, and within a week. As we forget everything…

However, we do not want to forget these fires. Because tomorrow these fires will happen again, our tomorrows will burn again. Let's not burn, let's not watch it burn. If not for today, we have only one expectation from our state for our future. What we expect from our state regarding these fires is the activation of the state's mind, that is, the power of strategic thinking. Global warming will increase fires, that's for sure. Since it will not be possible for us as a country to find a solution to global warming, at least it may be possible for us to find solutions for our country against its negative effects. We are not late yet, not all of our forests have been burned… We may have to deal with more fires next year than this year. We should see this. Crops to be harvested in the summer of 2022 are planted in October. Possible fires in the summer of 2022 can only be extinguished with measures to be taken in October. Not in July!

This summer, as a preparation for October, maybe as a reminder for someone sitting in authorized and responsible authorities.

We said let's write well. Let's say from the beginning, there is no unknown or unsaid information in our article, and there is no new idea. We just want to reveal what is, to draw attention. After all, our problem is not that we do not know, but that we do not do what we know… It is our traditionalist structure that prevents those who want to do it and hangs from their feet.

I would like to talk about aircraft, especially those used for aerial firefighting, which has been the subject of discussion recently. Turkish Aeronautical Association, General Directorate of Forestry etc. discussions are beyond this article. This is not the time or place for these discussions right now. At the moment, they are meaningless, vicious, vicious discussions. The discussions surrounding the failure of the General Directorate of Forestry to meet the 5 thousand liters requirement in the fire extinguishing aircraft tenders, since THK's fire extinguishing planes have a capacity of 4 thousand 900 liters, reflects the "unsolved" nature of our country in all dimensions. Everyone is right, according to His Majesty, everyone's hands are tied… When things get colder, if necessary, we will also talk about THK-based fire extinguishing planes.

Aerial firefighting is the use of airplanes and other air sources to fight forest fires. Types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Control lines, watchtowers, radio communications, transportation vehicles are used to control forest fires and give necessary warnings before forest fires. Aerial surveillance can be done when necessary. In this sense, it is a pleasing development that Aksungur unmanned aerial vehicles produced by TAI in our country will be used by the General Directorate of Forestry as of the summer of 2021. The fire prevention control mechanism and the mechanism that manages the fire from the moment the fire breaks out form the heart of the system here. A kind of "Operation Center" located at the General Directorate of Forestry in Ankara Söğütözü is the brain of Turkey in this sense. Other operations centers, control stations, watchtowers, airborne vehicles, etc., located in defined areas. This center, which is connected to all of them, has all the necessary equipment and infrastructure. Its staff is competent and competent.

Today, helicopters and planes are used for aerial firefighting. In the near future, unmanned aerial vehicles (fixed and/or rotary wing) will be able to serve for this purpose, as well as for fire extinguishing purposes, in addition to the reconnaissance, surveillance and warning tasks they perform today. For fire fighting purposes, water is used mainly within the scope of air extinguishing and cooling works. Various chemicals, fire retardants and wetting agents are also used in a way that does not harm the nature.

To the best of our knowledge, there are only Canadair CL-215 aircraft and their modernized and developed derivative CL-415 aircraft produced for firefighting purposes all over the world. The CL-215 is a Canadian-made amphibious aircraft type manufactured by Canadair. Thanks to its overhead wing structure, these aircraft can absorb water within seconds and respond to fires by making precise maneuvers at very low altitudes, even in mountainous terrain (although not as effective as helicopters for point operations in mountainous regions). These aircraft are twin-engine, high-wing and designed to operate in low-speed and high-loading environments such as forest fires. This need is met by providing additional capabilities to other helicopters and aircraft that we see in firefighting operations.

Helicopters

From aerial firefighting vehicles, helicopters stand out for their flexible use. Evaluations such as helicopter propellers fueling and inflaming fires are far from reality. According to planes, it provides transportation to every point. Helicopters can be deployed at too many points as they do not need runways. The amount of water they can carry is less than most airplanes, and the performance of helicopters in high mountain areas is lower than airplanes. If the "fire waiting" points are not chosen correctly with good planning to reach the fire point, their range may not be enough to reach the fire points and they may be slow. Therefore, establishing an aerial firefighting mechanism based solely on helicopters cannot be a correct method, except in geographically small countries. In general terms, helicopters should be used jointly with aircraft in firefighting, in a way to eliminate each other's deficiencies.

Among the prominent firefighting helicopters in the world, Bell 204, Bell 205, Bell 212, Boeing Vertol 107 and 234, Sikorsky S-64 and S-70, Mi-8, Mi-26, Kaman K-Max K-1200, S-64E similar helicopters. Mi-8 type fire fighting helicopters, which are mostly used in the fight against forest fires in our country and in the world, have a water carrying capacity of 2.5 tons. Kamov 32 is a fire helicopter with twin main engines and a take-off weight of 12 thousand 700 kilograms, which is also widely used for this purpose.

It has the ability to throw 3.5 tons of water. Fire-fighting helicopters can supply water from pools and ponds with a capacity of 400 to 1200 tons, which are built by the General Directorate of Forestry in fire-sensitive areas, one every 5 km. Although small-scale firefighting planes can supply 8 tons of water on average twice in an hour, helicopters can respond to fires by supplying an average of 8 tons of water per hour and a total of 20 tons of water from 2.5 tons each time.

The tender for the rental of 27 helicopters to be used in Combating Forest Fires in 2021 was opened by the General Directorate of Forestry on February 3, 2021. The tender was made in two parts. Bordeaux Architecture and the Turkish Aeronautical Association awarded the lease of 14 helicopters for 129.3 million TL and the 13 helicopters for 124.5 million TL. According to the contract signed between the parties in March, the helicopters will operate for a total of 183 days (5 thousand 847 hours flight guarantee) between 1 May and 31 October. The hourly rental cost of a helicopter comes to the state at an average of 51,350 lira. As a footnote here, THK's participation in the tender also reveals the futility of the discussions. So it is always possible to find common ground. As long as the wills and intentions are common.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry took part in the General Purpose Helicopter (T-70i) project of 109 helicopters, which is being carried out under the leadership of the Defense Industry Presidency, in order to bring an additional solution to the existing helicopter rental method. Delays in the project calendar have led the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to different searches. The number of T-70 helicopter orders for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was reduced from 20 to 3, taking into account the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces and the Gendarmerie General Command.

Airplanes

Compared to helicopters, the situation of planes is slightly different. Appropriate runways are definitely needed for firefighting aircraft. Aircraft must have the necessary water resources at the "fire waiting" points. If amphibious aircraft have to take water from lakes, seas or wide but calm rivers, the locations of water filling points and holding areas should be as close as possible to each other. Airplanes can intervene at far more distant fire points than helicopters, discharge their water over the fire place and come to the water filling point again in a rapid manner. Under all circumstances, this cycle can be continued by taking certain special precautions, by providing its own refueling needs and resting the pilots if necessary. Airplanes to be equipped with suitable night vision facilities and night vision goggles to be provided to the pilots can respond to fires at night with appropriate low altitude transitions. In other words, 24/7 fire can be fought from the air. If the fire point and the appropriate water source are close to each other, countless missions can be performed in very short time periods, even with a single plane, and fires can be effectively intervened and extinguished in a short time. For example, a CL-415 aircraft in the USA responded to a fire on June 1, 2002 near Dryden, Ontario. The fire tides 100 times in 4 hours, a total of 613,240 liters of water was discharged from the air over the fire area, and the CL-415 flight crew set a record that is hard to break in this area.

Various types of aircraft have been used in the world and in our country for fire fighting over the years. Canadair CL-215 with a water carrying capacity of 4,900 liters and its derivative CL-415 with a water carrying capacity of 6,300 liters, which are in the inventory of THK in our country and are the subject of current discussions, are designed and produced especially for fire fighting. Modifications of similar aircraft can also be made so that they can fight fires from the air. For example, among medium-sized modified aircraft, the Grumman S-2 Tracker (powered version with S-2E/T turboprop engines) used by California Forestry and Fire Protection continues to be used in the United States against fires. Evaluating the out-of-use of S-2E aircraft in the inventory of the Turkish Naval Forces (TAI, after the merger of TAI and TAI after 2005), TAI rolled up its sleeves to modify the S-2E aircraft as firefighting aircraft in 1996 with the support of the TEMA Foundation. Within the scope of the project, modification on a prototype was successfully completed by using company resources to a large extent. S-2E/T, which was equipped with new turboprop engines, added a 4,500 liter water tank, and renewed in a sense with additional equipment and systems, made test flights for fire extinguishing purposes. This aircraft flew 38 sorties in the TÜPRAŞ fire in the 1999 earthquake, and performed tasks that can be considered quite successful in firefighting. This project, which did not come back for various reasons, was canceled in 2003. Later, this aircraft was launched as a "flying test platform" in TAI flight tests by removing the added water reservoir.

He continued to work with her. Likewise, based on the examples in the world, a small number of C-130 transport aircraft in the Turkish Air Force inventory were modified for fire extinguishing purposes and made to carry 10 tons of water. For a short period of time until 2006, these aircraft were used for firefighting in the Turkish skies. However, the use of C-130 aircraft had to be abandoned for reasons of "flight safety", due to the fact that the aircraft were exposed to extreme temperatures during the fires that were intervened, and the water in contact with the hot surfaces caused corrosion over time. Cracks in the bottom of the wing of a C-130 aircraft used as a firefighting aircraft in the USA and the loss of aircraft in 2002 as a result of the crack in the wing due to excessive material fatigue were also a factor in this decision. As a matter of fact, the USA gave up the idea of ​​using C-130 aircraft as firefighting aircraft and canceled the C-130 conversion project of 33 aircraft as of 10 May 2004.

Known for their vast forests, Canada and the USA have subjected various aircraft to special modifications to use them in aerial firefighting. Examples in this framework include DC-4, DC-7, C-130 Hercules, P-2 Neptune, P-3 Orion, L-188 Electra, Fokker F-27 turboprop aircraft. Even Boeing-made 747 aircraft were considered for such modifications, resulting in a giant fire-fighting aircraft known as the “Global Supertanker” with a water carrying capacity of 74,200 liters. Again, McDonnel Douglas-made DC-10s started to be used for fires to carry 45,400 liters of water. The Russians add 41,600 liters of water reservoir to the Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft and use it for fires.

Let's learn from recent fires. Let's not lean forward, but think. Are we still wise? Let's not wait for all our forests to burn. Taking preventive measures against traitors who burn forests, providing deterrence by reviewing its legal dimension, operating surveillance and security mechanisms more effectively and efficiently, etc. These issues may be beneficial in terms of support to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The main responsibility and authority rests with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and even the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry politically. As part of the TAI visit program on a winter day, my esteemed Minister and also my fellow countryman Dr. My wish and expectation from Bekir Pakdemirli is that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry should roll up its sleeves as soon as possible in order to bring a permanent and effective solution, and sign the works to prevent and extinguish possible forest fires, which will definitely increase in the coming years. For this reason, whatever we write here, we stay at the point of selling cress to butter. Due to my previous duties, I had close contacts with the personnel of the General Directorate of Forestry. Our General Directorate of Forestry has countless personnel who are experts in their fields, extremely knowledgeable and know what they are doing. If their voices are listened to and what they say is done, it is more than enough for a solution.

No one can possibly claim that the state mind and political will to take the necessary strategic steps does not exist. As the Turkish people, we want to see this existing mind and will only on the field, not on the television screens!

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