Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed al-Saleh confirmed that Syria is witnessing a serious increase in the rate of forest and brush fires.
In an interview with the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Tuesday, July 1, he stated that since the beginning of April until the end of June, a total of 3,579 fires were recorded across 12 governorates, threatening the future ecological balance for coming generations.
Al-Saleh added that Syria has faced one of the widest and most dangerous waves of forest and agricultural fires since early April until the end of June.
The Syrian Civil Defense firefighting teams responded to approximately 794 fires that broke out in April, 1,252 fires in May, and 1,565 fires in June.
The Civil Defense teams carried out more than 16,200 intervention missions using 312 vehicles distributed across 116 firefighting centers, within an operational plan that exceeded 4,600 working hours, marking one of the largest coordinated firefighting operations Syria has witnessed.
Aleppo leads firefighting operations
The minister revealed that the geographical distribution of fires was uneven, with Aleppo ranking first in the number of firefighting operations at 710, followed by Latakia with 522, and Damascus with 432 operations.
Forest fires were particularly concentrated in Latakia with 314 fires, representing 61% of the total fires in the governorate. In Tartous, forest fires reached 237, accounting for 69% of the fires in that area. Dozens of fires also broke out in Idlib, while Hama witnessed 137 fires.
The fires have prompted the opening of coordination lines with humanitarian organizations to cover emergency gaps. Aerial firefighting is used only upon request from field teams and according to strict criteria including wind speed, terrain, and water supply locations.
Joint national operations room
The response operations during this period were the result of joint work between the Ministries of Defense, Agriculture, Interior, and the Syrian Civil Defense, within a joint national operations room, according to Minister Raed al-Saleh.
Al-Saleh stressed the importance of following guidelines to limit the ignition and spread of fires, emphasizing the need to end the phenomenon of illegal logging of forest trees due to its dangerous impact on the future climate in Syria and the region.
He also pointed to the importance of civilized waste disposal methods, which are a major factor in forest fires, and urged rational water use given the significant decrease in river water levels in Syria.
90% of fires extinguished
Today, the Syrian Civil Defense teams extinguished more than 90% of the fires that broke out in the forests of al-Rihaniyah town in Jabal al-Turkman, Kansaba, Qanjra, and al-Daghmashliyah in rural Latakia after long hours of work.
The head of civil defense on the coast, Abdel Kafi Kayyal, told SANA that firefighting teams are distributed across 32 fire sites, mostly in the forests of rural Latakia, with some in Tartous.
Almost daily fires
Syria’s governorates witness nearly daily fires, especially in forested and wooded areas.
The Syrian Civil Defense extinguished a forest fire in the Masyaf area of rural Hama on June 29.
On June 25 alone, the teams responded to 15 fires, including 4 in Damascus city and its countryside, 4 in Idlib city and countryside, 3 in Aleppo city and countryside, 3 in Latakia city and countryside, and one in rural Hama.
3,579 fires reported across Syria in three months Enab Baladi.
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