Historical disasters

7.4. Turkey

From past to now there were many fires which affected us.. We can list the fires that have caused huge losses until today.

The fires of Istanbul

The fires of Istanbul, reaching back 300 thousand years ago, were unlike tragedies in the world.History gave the fires of Istanbul the name of dragon which surrounded the city. At some times this dragon destroyed the half of Istanbul city and left thousands of people in wreckage. Fire was a disaster for Istanbul. This disaster did not only harm the welfare and wealth of the citizens but at the same time damaged their ease and happiness.

Istanbul, in which great historical fires took place, consisted of all wooden buildings since the Byzantine period. Many fires broke up in Istanbul, like those in the other cities of First and Medieval Ages. The city became more and more important after the Ottoman Conquest. The population of Istanbul increased day by day. The city gradually developed, and streets and squares became smaller due to the new constructions.Therefore fire hazard grew more in the city.

25 August 1515 Great Fire of Istanbul: This fire was extinguished when it stood against Gedikpaşa hamam in the afternoon after the Ashes of Bethesda and the ashes of many shops. It is reported that this fire came from Yavuz Sultan Selim. After this date, the great fires of Istanbul have been repeated in the form of a cataclysmic sequence which is now frequently found in the Ottoman city. These fires have led to the change of the city of Istanbul very often in terms of urbanism and the disappearance of the books with many books which will explain our history.

September 19, 1569 Great Fire of Istanbul: This time the great fire of the Second Selim Devra came out of the Jewish quarter and could only be exploited on 26 September after seven days and seven nights. According to some foreign vesikalara this terrific fire burned 360000 houses

Alleged. This fire was not able to come because the janissary network of Sokullu, Cafer Aga, was ill, so that the new janissaries who had not been able to get started had spread fire on the beginning of the plunder and therefore Cafer Aga was dismissed and Emir Ahhur Siyavuş Ağa was appointed instead.

September 2, 1633 Great Fire in the City Burning a Bastard One Great fire in a ship in Cibali has been separated from Cibali to Ayzkapısı and three branches after Mustafa Pasha Bazaar. A branch of Kadi Fountain burned down the district of Sultan Selim, the second branch along the coast to Unkapam and Zeyrek Yokusu from there, and the third branch to Sarıgüzel after the burning of Saraçhane. The sultan of the period put forward the "Tobacco Legion" and claimed that all the horses were closed.

THE REASONS OF FIRE

The houses’ being made of wood and their lining so closely to each other on streets, the narrowness of the streets, and the lack of water and extinguishing agents resulted in the houses’ burning to the ground almost across the city. 

FIRE TOWERS

Fires were announced by means of flags in Bayezid and Galata Fire Towers. The fires belonging

Janissary water pumpers (Yeniçeri tulumbacıları) period 1714– 1826

This second period went on till the abolishment of the guild of janissaries in 1826. The historians recorded that 44 great fires had happened and in these fires 7000 buildings, inns, Turkish baths and madrasas had burned. In this period, firefighting was initiated. These fires were extinguished immediately by tulumbacılar(firefighter)

Third period; Fires belonging to the period of district water-pumping and city halls (1826-1874) When the guild of janissaries was abolished in 1826, the guild of Ottoman water-pumpers would have been abolished, too. The important fires of this period. Fires that left traces before republican history: In 1874 Samatya fire burned 687 buildings.In 1874 Üsküdar fire, 365 buildings burned.1877 fire came out of court, 121 buildings burned.1200 buildings burned in the 1890 Pendik Fire.1890 The fire came out of the rampart, 1 mosque, 35 shops and 70 houses were completely ash.1892 Fire came out in Karabas neighborhood, 25 houses became ashes.In 1896 the fire came out around Dibek in Karabas District, 45 buildings were ashes.In the 1903 Eagle fire 1121 buildings burned.1908 1500 buildings burned in the fire of the gin.5500 buildings burned in 1911 Aksaray fire.In the fire of 1918 Fatih Cibali 7500 buildings were burnt.

(Turkish for fried eggplant) is an eggplant dish from the Turkish cuisine. It is such a common dish during summer months that this season used to be called "patlıcan kızartma ayları" (fried eggplant months) in Ottoman Istanbul where this generalized frying caused huge fires and destroyed the street due to the abundance of old wooden houses.: When the eggplant was frying, a fire broke out.In this fire 110 buildings were burnt.

August 23, 1927 Üsküdar Valide'i Waste Fire: Fire again in a wooden house has caused the burning of ashes in 201 houses.

January 22, 1929 Fire of Tatavla (Present Liberation): In this fire where the firefighters came in the winter and the firemen had difficulty in getting water, 207 buildings were burnt.

20 June 1937 Beşiktaş Uzuncaova Fire: 31 houses were completely burned in the fire in the neighborhood consisting of two storey wooden houses.

1952 Adana Çukobirlik Cotton Factory Fire: A $ 2,500,000- loss was incurred in this fire and was fully compensated by the insurance company.

1954 Fire of the Kapalıçarşı: In the bazaar, 744 shops were totally burnt, 2034 partly in the 1290 shops and 30 shops outside the bazaar were completely burnt. The fire grew out of control because of the fireman opening both doors of the Grand Bazaar. Insurance companies pay $ 2.650.000- $ compensation. This fire insurance industry, which accounts for 30% of Turkey's insurance portfolio, has been an important test

A large number of fire examples can be shown from 1941 to the present day. Especially the increase in activities and numbers of big businesses in social life has caused the increase of fire damagefrequency and severity.For example :

ANTALYA FIRE 2 August 2006

The fire, which broke out Friday and was fanned by strong winds, destroyed part of the village The blaze, which destroyed about 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of woodlands, broke out most probably after winds reaching up to 70 kilometers per hour (43.5 miles per hour) tore down power lines.

About 1,300 people, helped by fire-fighting helicopters and airplanes, were battling the blaze that raged between Serik district and the coastal town of Manavgat, where several large holiday villages are located.Aircrafts dropped loads of water to douse the flames amid a thick pall of smoke hanging over the Mediterranean hillsides in what one official described as the worst fire Antalya province had ever faced.

 Fire in Haydarpaşa Station 28.11.2010 :

The historic roof is completely burned The fire at Haydarpaşa Train Station was taken under control after about an hour of work. The fire broke out at 15:30 and the fourth floor suffered extensive damage. A fire extinguishing vessel connected to the coast guard also supported the fire extinguishing activities attended by all the fire brigade teams on the Anatolian side. It is known that insulation works on the roof cause fire.

SOMA MINE FIRE, May 17, 2014

 In total, 301 people were killed in what was the worst mine disaster in Turkey's history. The fire occurred at the mine's shift change, 787 workers were underground at the time of the explosion. After the final bodies were pulled from the mine on May 17, 2014, four days after the fire.

Trabzon-Sürmene Fire 08.01.2017

An area of ​​15-20 hectares is affected. Fire caused by a picnic.
50 firefighters intervened.