Great Canakkale fire on NASA map
While a day has passed in the fire that started in Çanakkale at noon yesterday, the extent of the flames was reflected on the NASA map.
It started on agricultural land and spread to the forest.
It covered 15 kilometers in a short time. Villages were engulfed in flames, hundreds of people were evacuated.
A change in the wind direction saved Çanakkale city center from burning at the last moment.
The forest fire near Kayadere village near the center continues.
The flames are effective in an area of 1,500 hectares. The fire is being fought by 8 airplanes, 26 helicopters, nearly 2,700 personnel and 639 vehicles and construction equipment.
The wind reaching 70 kilometers per hour is the most difficult for the teams.
Approximately 1250 people were taken to safe areas in the region where 9 villages were evacuated. However, 9 houses in Ulupınar and Yağcılar villages were engulfed in flames.
The flames, which the teams fought with great difficulty, were seen on the NASA map.
NTV Meteorology Editor Dilek Çalışkan said that Marmara is the most dangerous region for forest fires due to the effect of the winds and pointed out that the same winds are also seen in Greece.
Wind map, green areas show where strong winds are blowing.
Çalışkan stated that the wind, which decreased in the evening hours, will increase again as of noon and that they expect this situation to continue until Sunday.
The fires that have been raging in Greece for 5 days and threatening residential units cannot be brought under control due to the strong winds. 20 people have lost their lives so far. Many houses have become unusable. The south of Europe is under the influence of a new heat wave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in some places.
The US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has set up a mapping system called “FIRMS”, where forest fires around the world can be tracked simultaneously via satellites. The map shares data on thousands of fires currently burning around the world, from the US state of Minnesota to forest fires in Siberia.
It is also possible to track fires in Turkey through FIRMS. Turkey has been fighting a forest fire in Çanakkale since yesterday afternoon.
