International Cooperation on Airborne Forest Fire-Fighting: Opportunities for Turkey and Greece

Abstract

Although the research on forest fires and fire-fighting in different regions is continuously expanding, cooperation opportunities on fire-fighting between different countries still remains unexplored. This study aims to evaluate the international cooperation opportunities on airborne forest fire-fighting by concentrating on cooperation between Turkey and Greece on the Aegean Coast. For this aim, the number and location of two counties' current resources are figured out and the current initial attack performances of both countries are measured. Considering each country separately, the relocation of the resources is suggested for improved service through mathematical programming models. Number and locations of the resources for an effective service are also suggested in case of cooperation. Results show that, in a cooperative system, total number of resources required is decreasing compared to a non-cooperative one. Findings of this paper address the research gap on international cooperation on airborne forest fire-fighting especially in the Aegean Region. This study can provide a viewpoint for the future cooperation between multiple countries on resource management, and disaster management, especially on the forest fire-fighting.