Wildfire Drills in Two Provinces

The first phase of wildfire drills in protected areas managed by the Department of Environment is scheduled for July 11, according to the director of DOE's Hunting and Fishing Office.

The drills will be held simultaneously in the provinces of East Azarbaijan and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, both of which are deemed vulnerable to wildfires, YJC quoted Ali Teymouri as saying.

This is the third consecutive year that these drills are being conducted in Iran.

The event will be attended by officials of Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization, Disaster Mitigation and Management Organization, Ministry of Defense and provincial authorities.

"Though the drills will be held in two provinces, teams from other high-risk regions will also take part," Teymouri said, adding that firefighters from 11 provinces will participate.

The official said the second stage of the drills is slated for the Iranian month of Shahrivar (Aug. 23- Sept. 22) in Golestan Province, and teams from Mazandaran, Gilan, Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan and Semnan are expected to take part.

Thanks to DOE's preemptive measures, there has been a visible decline in both the frequency of wildfires and the area they burn. In 2014-15, around 6,700 hectares of protected areas under DOE's management were burnt but the figure dropped by 70% in 2016-17 to 2,200 hectares.

The figures above are only limited to areas managed by the department. A vast majority of Iranian woodlands are managed by FRWO.