Spatial analysis of wildfire burn severity and urban exposure assessment in Southwestern Türkiye

During the summer of 2021, extreme wildfires swept through the southwest of Türkiye, burning thousands of hectares of land and causing human fatalities and significant economic damage. In response to this disaster, a comprehensive study was conducted to assess the burn severity and urban exposure of the population, settlements, and infrastructure elements in Muğla, Türkiye. This region is particularly prone to wildfire outbreaks due to dense forests, which highlights the need for effective disaster management strategies. The wildfire boundaries were delimited, and the burned area was characterized based on pre- and post-wildfire Sentinel-2 satellite images, which allowed for the assessment of the extent of the damage. In addition, the affected wildland–urban interface (WUI) was evaluated by implementing a 1000-m buffer zone to include major and minor settlements close to the wildfire sites, and the population exposed to the wildfires was quantified. The results showed that four different sites were affected, and the total area burned amounted to 550 km², affecting 33 local settlements with over 100,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, the wildfires caused significant disruption to the transportation networks, with two major routes being impacted, one 57 km and 22 km long. It also underscored the importance of understanding extreme wildfire events and their potential impacts on the region. These results provided important insight for controlling fires, extinguishing, and evacuating the affected population, and developing future preservation and mitigation strategies.