LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS

TURKEYPART 4: WILDFIRES

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, Vienna,

Virginia, USA 

TURKEY

ISTANBUL

NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED DISASTERS IN TURKEYDISASTERS IN TURKEY

NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED NATURAL HAZARDS THAT HAVE CAUSED DISASTERS IN TURKEYDISASTERS IN TURKEY

FLOODS

STORMS

EARTHQUAKES

WILDFIRES

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

HIGH BENEFIT/COST FROM BECOMING DISASTER NRESILIENT

HIGH BENEFIT/COST FROM BECOMING DISASTER NRESILIENT

GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIESAND COMMUNITIES

GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE GOAL: PROTECT PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIESAND COMMUNITIES

Natural Phenomena that Cause Disasters

Planet Earth’s atmospheric-lithospheric interactions create situations favorable for Wildfires

WILDFIRES are conflagrations caused by

lightning discharges (or acts of man) in wilderness areas close enough to one or more urban

interfaces that they threaten people, property, infrastructure, and

business enterprise.

WILDFIRES are conflagrations caused by

lightning discharges (or acts of man) in wilderness areas close enough to one or more urban

interfaces that they threaten people, property, infrastructure, and

business enterprise.

SCIENCE OF WILDFIRES

ELEMENTS OF RISK AND DISASTER

HAZARDSHAZARDSHAZARDSHAZARDS

ELEMENTS OF RISK FOR ELEMENTS OF RISK FOR STORMS STORMS

ELEMENTS OF RISK FOR ELEMENTS OF RISK FOR STORMS STORMS

EXPOSUREEXPOSUREEXPOSUREEXPOSURE

VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY LOCATIONLOCATIONLOCATIONLOCATION

RISKRISKRISKRISK

A WILDFIRE’S HAZARDS

ARE POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS

WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)

• FIRE

• HOT GASES AND SMOKE

• HOT SPOTS

• BURNED OUT SLOPES (with increased susceptibility to insect infestation, erosion, and landslides)

WILDFIRE HAZARDS (AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)

• SUNDOWNER WINDS

• LOCAL CHANGES IN AIR QUALITY

• LOCAL CHANGES IN WEATHER

LIGHTNING STRIKES

WILDFIRES (AKA FOREST FIRES)

WILDFIRES (AKA FOREST FIRES)

MANMADE FIRES

PROXIMITY OF URBAN AREA TO THE WILDLAND FIRE

WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION (DAY/NIGHT DIFFERENCES)

DRYNESS

HIGH TEMPERATURES

LOCAL FUEL SUPPLY

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

DISASTER LABORATORIES

DISASTER LABORATORIES

A DISASTER CAN HAPPENWHEN THE

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS OF A WILDFIRE INTERACT WITH

TURKEY’S COMMUNITIES

A DISASTER CAN HAPPENWHEN THE

POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS OF A WILDFIRE INTERACT WITH

TURKEY’S COMMUNITIES

A DISASTER is ---

--- the set of failures that overwhelm the capability of a community to respond without external help  when three continuums: 1)  people, 2) community (i.e., a set of habitats, livelihoods, and social constructs), and 3) complex events (e.g., wildfires, earthquakes,…) intersect at a point in space and time.

Disasters are caused by single- or multiple-event natural hazards that, (for various reasons), cause

extreme levels of mortality, morbidity, homelessness,

joblessness, economic losses, or environmental impacts.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• When it does happen, the functions of the community’s buildings and infrastructure will be LOST because they are UNPROTECTED with the appropriate codes and standards.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• The community is UN-PREPARED for what will likely happen, not to mention the low-probability of occurrence—high-probability of adverse consequences event.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• The community has NO DISASTER PLANNING SCENARIO or WARNING SYSTEM in place as a strategic framework for early threat identification and coordinated local, national, regional, and international countermeasures.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• The community LACKS THE CAPACITY TO RESPOND in a timely and effective manner to the full spectrum of expected and unexpected emergency situations.

THE REASONS ARE . . .

• The community is INEFFICIENT during recovery and reconstruction because it HAS NOT LEARNED from either the current experience or the cumulative prior experiences.

Turkey has a land mass of 77.079 million hectares, of which 26 percent (20.199

million hectares) is forested.

In the period 1937-1996, a total of 60,434 fires burned a

total of 1,464,928 hectares of Turkey’s forest land.

Although the number of fires has continued to increase since 1996,

the area burned has decreased due to the effective use of

technology in transportation, communication and fire

suppression

WOOD FROM THE 1996 MARMARIS WILDFIRE

TURKEY HAS MANY COMMUNITIES THAT ARE AT RISK FROM FREQUENT

WILDFIRES

UNFORTUNATELY, MOST OF TURKEY’S WILDFIRES

ARE MANMADE

DISTRIBUTION OF WILDFIRES

• The distribution of the fires in different regions is as follows:

• 41% of the fires occur in the Aegean;

• 24% in the Mediterranean;

• 22% in Marmara;

• and 13% in other regions

SO, WILDFIRES ARE INEVITABLE EVERY YEAR IN TURKEY

SO, WILDFIRES ARE INEVITABLE EVERY YEAR IN TURKEY

• ---WE DON’T HAVE TO WAIT VERY LONG FOR ANOTHER REMINDER OF THE IMPORTANCE OF BECOMING WILD-FIRE DISASTER RESILIENT.

THE ALTERNATIVE TO A WILDFIRE DISASTER IS

WILDFIRE DISASTER RESILIENCE

THE ALTERNATIVE TO A WILDFIRE DISASTER IS

WILDFIRE DISASTER RESILIENCE

TURKEY’S TURKEY’S COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES

TURKEY’S TURKEY’S COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIES

DATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATIONDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATION

HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

• WILDFIRE HAZARDS•INVENTORY•VULNERABILITY•LOCATION

WILDFIRE RISK WILDFIRE RISK

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

WILDFIRE DISASTER WILDFIRE DISASTER RESILIENCERESILIENCE

•PREPAREDNESS•PROTECTION•FORECASTS/SCENARIOS•EMERGENCY RESPONSE•RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION

POLICY OPTIONSPOLICY OPTIONS

STRATEGIC COLLABORATION (I.E., WORKING TOGETHER ON A

COMMON GOAL)

IS THE KEY TO BECOMING STORM DISASTER RESILIENT

STRATEGIC COLLABORATION (I.E., WORKING TOGETHER ON A

COMMON GOAL)

IS THE KEY TO BECOMING STORM DISASTER RESILIENT

DISASTER RESILIENCE STRATEGIES FOR WILDFIRES

DISASTER RESILIENCE STRATEGIES FOR WILDFIRES

• PURPOSE

• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

• WIN THE FIGHT

• PURPOSE

• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

• WIN THE FIGHT

• TECHNIQUE

• PRE- AND POST -WILDFIRE ASSESSMENTS

• FOCUS INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RESOURCES

• TECHNIQUE

• PRE- AND POST -WILDFIRE ASSESSMENTS

• FOCUS INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RESOURCES

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL WILDFIRES PREPAREDNESFOR THE EXPECTED AND UNEXPEDTED IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL WILDFIRES

EARLY WARN-ING (THE ISS) AND EVACU-ATION ARE ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL WILDFIRES TIMELY EMERGENCY RESPONSE IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE