The public forestry service role in controlling Goriški Kras fire and consequences of the fire for forest ecosystems

Požar Goriški Kras, ki je vzplamtel 15. 7. 2022, pogašen pa je bil 29. 7. 2022, je doslej največji požar v Sloveniji, saj je zajel skupaj 3.707 ha površin, od tega 2.902 ha gozdov. Pogorela površina v Sloveniji in Italiji skupaj obsega okoli 4.500 ha. V intervencijo gašenja požara je bila že prvi dan nastanka požara vključena javna gozdarska služba, ki jo opravlja Zavod za gozdove Slovenije. Gozdarji so štabu za vodenje intervencije dali na voljo gozdarske karte z zarisom vseh prometnic. Zaradi dobrega poznavanja terena je bila glavna naloga ZGS sprva pomagati posameznim gasilnim enotam pri orientaciji v prostoru in usmerjanju po protipožarnih presekah in gozdnih cestah. V času največjega razvoja požara so bile naloge delavcev ZGS preusmerjene v sečnjo ob prometnicah in naseljih, kjer bi bilo mogoče ustaviti širjenje požara. V aktivnost so se vključili tudi gozdarji družbe Slovenski državni gozdovi (SiDG) in iz ZGS vpoklicani izvajalci sečnje in drugih del na protipožarnih presekah ter prostovoljci. Neposredna škoda v gozdovih je bila ocenjena na 24,9 milijona evrov, požar pa je pomembno prizadel tudi ekološke in socialne funkcije gozdaThe Goriški Kras fire which flared up on July 15, 2022, and was extinguished on July 29, 2022, represents the largest fire in Slovenia up to now since it engulfed a total of 3.707 ha of the areas, thereof 2.902 ha of forests. The whole burntarea in Slovenia and Italy covers about 4.500 ha. The public forestry service performed by the Slovenia Forest Service (SFS) was incorporated into the intervention on the first day of the fire. The foresters placed forestry maps with the delineation of all forest roads at the Intervention headquarters’ disposal. Due to their thorough terrain knowledge, at first, the main ZGS task was to help individual fire-fighting units with their spatial orientation and direct them on the firebreaks and forest roads. In the time of the maximum fire development, the SFS workers’ tasks were redirected into the execution of felling along the traffic roads and settlements where it could have been possible to stop the fire from spreading. The foresters of the Slovenian State Forests (SiDG) company and other forestry companies and works, called up by the SFS, and volunteers were incorporated into the activities. The direct damage in the forests has been estimated to 24.9 million EUR. Furthermore, the fire also significantly affected the ecological and social functions of the forest