81 İlde Yangın Güvenliği İçin Yeni Yapılanma

·54 min·5 clips

Emin Pehlivan reveals why Turkey's volunteer firefighting system is dangerously uncoordinated and leads to preventable losses.

The episode is an interview with retired Fire Department President Emin Pehlivan on the Turkish radio program Altın Saatler. Hosts Gürhan and Nazan introduce Pehlivan, detailing his career in fire services across Kocaeli, Antalya, and Tekirdağ municipalities, and his current consultancy role. The discussion centers on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's July 28 announcement to reorganize forest fire responsibilities, assigning them to 30 major city municipalities while AFAD handles 51 other provinces. Pehlivan clarifies the current legal responsibility lies solely with the Ministry of Forestry and its Forest Directorate, with others only in supporting roles. He criticizes the fragmented volunteer system for forest fires, AFAD, and general volunteers, emphasizing a lack of coordination, standardization, and proper training. Pehlivan argues that major city municipalities' fire departments are equipped for urban fires, with vehicles and gear unsuitable for forest terrain, and they lack the budget for aerial firefighting assets like planes and helicopters. He recounts the Çanakkale forest fire where a professional forest manager died despite expertise, illustrating the inherent dangers. The conversation explores on-ground conflicts, such as forest services refusing to intervene in field fires until they reach forest boundaries, causing delays. Pehlivan describes his strategy in Antalya: prioritizing protection of settlement areas near forest fires. He addresses preventive measures, noting municipal fire departments conduct awareness campaigns and building inspections, though implementation varies. The hosts raise issues about the Forest Directorate's other duties, like land permits generating 7.6 billion lira in revenue, questioning if municipalities can handle such broad responsibilities. Pehlivan repeatedly stresses forest fires require distinct expertise and cannot be managed overnight by city departments. He concludes by reiterating a 30-year-old proposal: establish a protocol for forest service vehicles and personnel to work with municipal fire departments during off-seasons, fostering mutual expertise and coordination.

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