A forest fire that started at the summit of Ağıllar village escalated uncontrollably, and a team of approximately 20 people was sent to the area to intervene. In this context, coordination was established with the Forestry Department, and thanks to the cooperation of the Nicosia Turkish Municipality teams, the road between Mersinlik-Ardağan was converted into a firebreak, and a defence line was created to prevent the fire from spreading eastward and reaching the Kantara Forests.
Throughout the day, although some officials questioned the necessity of our work and why we had come to this area, the importance of our efforts became evident on the evening of 23.06.2023, when the fire reached the mentioned point. The significance of the firebreak we had created through our superhuman efforts to stop the fire was understood.
Again, on the night of 23.06.2023, after the fire breached the defence line at two fire points, it was extinguished by volunteers with the support of a fire truck from İntergaz.
In addition to all these efforts, the logistics coordination team and volunteer supporters ensured that food supplies, drinking water, and medical materials brought from all over the island to the fire area were collected at a central point and distributed to the teams in need. In this framework, the Topçuköy Hunting and Shooting Club building in the fire zone was transformed into a station and logistics coordination centre, and more than 100 volunteers, including 5 from our core team, worked from this centre in a coordinated manner.
Our efforts intensified on the 4th night of the fire, and volunteer doctors were brought to the area. Thus, on the 4th night of the fire, first aid support was provided at two locations, Topçuköy and Mersinlik.
After the rain on the night of 2.06.2023, logistical support and cooling operations continued for another 4 days with approximately 250 volunteers in the extinguished fire zone. In this way, the importance of cooling operations after the extinguishing of the fire was proven to the relevant authorities and society by us volunteers.
During the Mersinlik Forest Fire process, our volunteer team coordinated approximately 1,300 people through the 'Mersinlik Fire Volunteers' WhatsApp group and achieved world-class performance in terms of completing the fire process and logistical support. The fire, which ended with the burning of a total of 5,500 hectares of forest land, demonstrated to the entire community and the relevant authorities the importance of trained disaster volunteers.
