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BEIRUT — Earlier this month, as fires raged along Syria’s Mediterranean coast, President Bashar al-Assad visited firefighters in the northern outskirts of Latakia, a government stronghold.
“They have made great efforts under very difficult circumstances that can be compared to the battles,” Assad told them, referring to the country’s devastating, decades-long civil war. “There are terrorists and real battles, and there’s the weather and the wind itself maneuvering forces from side to side.”
The fires that raged in north-west Syria this summer have exacerbated the dire humanitarian situation. Still reeling from two major earthquakes in February and a severe economic crisis, the region remains divided among rival factions and isolated from the world. Firefighters on both sides of the conflict are now attempting to confront a common enemy, but are being hampered by a lack of support from government and the international community.
The fires started in late July and were the latest in a string of fires across the Mediterranean, from Greece to Algeria. A transformer explosion started the fires, according to a local forestry expert in Latakia, who spoke to the Washington Post on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals. Heatwaves, low humidity and high winds meant the blazes quickly spread across the pine-covered mountains, sparking more blazes in neighboring Idlib and Hama provinces.
Husam Zelito, 47, has been fighting fires in and around Idlib for more than 20 years. Before the war, he was a government firefighter and is now a member of the Syrian Civil Defense, better known as the “White Helmets,” a relief and first responder group that operates in rebel-held areas.
“Wildfires are the biggest challenge and we face big problems,” he told The Post. “The human resources are there, but we need special vehicles that can handle the steep slopes and roads. Our trucks cannot reach some areas, which slows down the response time.”
According to the White Helmets, at least 17 people have died in fires this year, including 13 children. Almost 80 people were injured.
Even in state-controlled Latakia, war and western sanctions have exhausted local resources, the forest expert said: “In 2011 we had around 550 fire engines. There are now fewer than 140 and they lack maintenance.”
The government’s stranglehold on information has made it difficult to determine the extent of the fire damage. According to early reports, at least 370 hectares of land had burned; Weeks later, no updated numbers were released. Latakia Governor Amer Hilal has formed a committee to assess the overall impact. No deaths were reported in government areas.
“We still have to wait a bit before we get an accurate estimate,” said the expert in Latakia, but there is “massive destruction – the forests are intertwined with many agricultural areas and farms.” People had to leave their homes.”
Latakia Agriculture Ministry director Bassem Doba told state media that putting out the fires was particularly difficult as the affected area was still riddled with landmines.
However, government media stressed that the situation was under control and published some photos of the fires. Pictures from Assad’s visit to Latakia show him surrounded by firefighters. Charred trees can be seen in the background.
On their Facebook page, the Latakia Fire Department thanked Assad for his visit but urged him to raise the profile of “the work of firefighters in Syria… which is considered to be some of the worst in the government.”
In a rare criticism, Thaer al-Hassan, fire chief in Hama, east of Latakia, told the pro-government newspaper Al Watan that firefighters should be paid higher salaries, noting that sanitation workers were getting better pay.
The high turnover has reduced the Hama brigade to 97 firefighters, Hassan said earlier, noting that at least 60 more men are needed. In addition to wildfires, he said crews regularly have to put out tanker fires and are often attacked by rebel fighters.
For years, the frustration has been growing as the fire season has become longer and more intense. Muhammad Debsawy, another fire chief in Hama, put it bluntly last year: “It is unreasonable for a firefighter to be exposed to fire and toxic gases while putting out a fire and receive only a monthly compensation of 290 Syrian pounds, which is not the Fall is enough to buy falafel.”
National officials doubled salaries for government employees this week, but the decision came with a surge in fuel prices.
Though Syria was reinstated into the Arab League in May and recently normalized relations with a number of its once-enemy neighbors, those moves have done little to slow the collapse of its economy. At the beginning of the year, one US dollar was equivalent to 6,650 Syrian pounds; currently there are 14,300.
Ninety percent of Syrians live in poverty. According to the United Nations, 14.6 million people needed humanitarian assistance last year, more than at any time during the war.
In Idlib, home to nearly 2.9 million people displaced by the conflict, firefighting is the responsibility of the White Helmets, who are also responsible for responding to government airstrikes and other emergencies. This year alone they have been called to almost 2,000 fires.
“Sometimes there are five to seven fires in a day,” Zelito said. “In some other countries, they might have asked for international support. The vegetation cover is getting scarcer from year to year and the green areas are getting smaller.”
George Mitri, a professor at Lebanon’s Balamand University, joined Zelito in saying conditions were ripe for further spread. As climate change continues to fuel fires in the region, they are becoming harder to control, he said.
“This is where the loss of biodiversity on the site starts, as after two fires in a relatively short period of time, it can’t recover as easily,” he said. “It always burns like that.”
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