Harmancık wildfire remains out of control: Power lines under suspicion

The ongoing forest fire in Harmancık cannot be brought under control and has spread over a wide area. CHP Bursa MP Orhan Sarıbal visited the fire zone to conduct inspections and suggested that the fire might have originated from power transmission lines. Sarıbal said, "There are power transmission lines in the area where the fire started, and power outages occurred before the fire alarm was raised."

Stating that the fire has spread to a large area, Sarıbal said, "While the fire had reached a point where it could have been stopped, it spread rapidly the next morning and affected many villages. Cooling efforts cannot be completed, and there are many points that are difficult to reach," he stated. Drawing attention to the importance of aerial vehicles in firefighting, Sarıbal said, "There are thousands of points that we cannot intervene in from the ground without aerial intervention."

Sarıbal emphasized that better planning is needed to prevent forest fires. "We need to plan our forests. Fire roads must be created, and necessary measures must be taken to protect the forests," he said.

He also stated that the revenue generated from forests logged in the last five years has not been used effectively enough.

Expressing that resources are not being allocated to natural disasters, Sarıbal voiced his criticisms by saying, "In a country where billions of liras are spent on interest, sufficient investment is not being made against forest fires." Sarıbal argued that more resources should be allocated to prevent the growth of fires.

News Source: 12punto