When people talk to me about moving to Turkey, I always caution not to invest more here than you could afford to walk away from.
Last night was a reminder why, as columns of smoke and flame roared up the mountain extinguishing the sun and threatening to destroy Islamlar and Üzümlu. Extremely dry weather, which has brought no rain for months even though we are still only in June, has turned the area into a tinder box; an accident which got bored with waiting to happen. Yesterday afternoon it happened.
For hours some watched in horror, others made hasty attempts to create firebreaks or dampen the boundaries of their properties. Some had to flee for their lives. Two of our friends packed essentials and left them by the car ready to go, as a towering column of smoke threatend to engulf them.
A relay of helicopters flew in to the smoke to dump trailing containers of seawater on the blazing forest. Whilst countless firetrucks headed into the firezone, their crews preparing to put their lives on the line to save the lives and protect the property of the despairing victims.
All those men who headed in as others ran to escape are a fine sight. The best of us.
Apparently there has been no loss of human life and a huge hoorah for that. Hopefully no livestock were lost but the area’s wildlife will have been devastated; snakes, tortoises and legions of smaller creatures. A huge swathe of forestry has been destroyed too leaving a blackened and scarred landscape. Several buildings were seriously damaged or even completely gutted. Many bookings will have to be cancelled as visitors will not want to overlook blackened stumps
The fire was brought under control yesterday evening. But even early this morning as I cycled through the grey, smoking landscape peppered with fire service vehicles and their brave crews, resting after a long hard night, there were still little pockets of flame awaiting a breeze. Fortunately the weather is flat calm.
Thankfully we and our dear friends in the mountains were not directly affected in the end. The fire was stopped short of the village itself. So I will not have to test whether our insurance would have held good. This time.
I cannot help wondering how this inferno started. Our fire was not even the only blaze. There was a major fire in the Cerciler region above Kaş and a raging one in Dalaman. Was it a careless cigarette end or a piece of glass from the flytipped builders’ waste strewn over the mountains? Or a bottle casually pitched from a passing car window?
The Mayor and his team were in evidence, sleeves rolled up looking pensive and purposeful. Am I being naive in believing that he too might be thinking …‘What the hell are we letting happen here? It’s a landslip area. There is not enough water to meet even existing demand. Hundreds of illegal villas have been thrown up without any planning control all over the mountain woodland. There are consequently no building standards, no firechecks, nothing. Visitors from cities come in droves to holiday in unregistered houses in tinder dry forests. No planning. No control. No direction. I really MUST call a halt to this madness.”
Maybe..?
The real dry season has only just started. This is a massive wake up call
Reality check time. Admittedly I am generalising here, but my comments reflect 14 years of living here and many discussions with Turkish and non-Turkish friends.
Fact 1: Holiday villas in the mountains are never too far away from trees and other vegetation.
Fact 2: Tourists who visit villas in the mountains often like to BBQ outside their villas. This is a potential fire hazard.
Fact 3: Quite a few people smoke cigarettes and are not too fussy where they chuck their cigarette butts. This is a potential fire hazard.
Fact 4: And sadly there are some who are not averse to chucking their rubbish over the garden wall, which may include glass bottles. This would be a potential fire hazard.
Can you spot a theme here?
Clearly I am not in a position to say how fires in our locality yesterday started, but I would be prepared to wager that this was not some spontaneous natural phenomenon. In all likelihood the act of a person or persons was a contributory factor.
But my point is this: If you introduce mass tourism to forested land that often becomes tinder dry in summer months, then you very obviously increase the fire risk. This is a self-evident truth. And at the same time you will be consuming vast quantities of precious and finite water that will not then be available to quench any forest fires that do occur.
In other words, this is a man made disaster waiting to happen. As a Turkish friend said to me yesterday, commenting on these fires “We did this to ourselves. It’s hard to disagree.
And the season has only just begun. Stay safe.