Exhausted firefighters catch their breath after putting out a fire that broke out at a workplace in the Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey on June 28. Photo: VCG

Firefighters put out a fire that broke out at a workplace in the Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey on June 28. Photo: VCG

After receiving a fire call in Istanbul, Turkey's most crowded city, it usually takes two minutes for the firefighters to get ready, board their fire trucks and set out on the road.

However, they may get lost in the small streets and have to turn around to find an alternative route, which costs precious moments.

Some 145 firefighters are working in the city's Avcilar district and its adjoining regions. They have to respond to an average of 15-20 incidents a day, or 60 during heavy rainfall or stormy weather.

"There are days when we go from one fire incident to another without arriving at the station," Fuat Elkiran, assistant chief at the Avcilar Fire Department, told the Xinhua News Agency.

The biggest problem they have been facing in this megalopolis of more than 16 million people is the "hectic traffic chaos and the wrong parking habits of Istanbulites," he said.

Istanbul, with a population of 20 million including refugees, can better cope with fire incidents and disasters thanks to volunteer firefighters, he believed.

Elkiran said there are 20 volunteer fire stations across Istanbul, but the need for firefighting services has been growing each day.

"New volunteer stations can be opened... in areas that we cannot reach or have difficulty arriving at," he said, referring to those old neighborhoods with narrow ancient roads and historic wooden buildings, such as Karakoy, where the iconic Galata Tower is located. 

"It is hard to get in, hard to get out. Laying hoses and intervening in the fire from a distance is the best solution for these kinds of locations," Elkiran added.

According to the Istanbul Fire Department, there was no fire brigade in the city until 1714, and each household had to have a ladder reaching the roof of the house and a big barrel full of water to be used in case of fire. In 1923, a fire department was founded, with new equipment and vehicles.

Now, there are some 170 fire stations across the city, including those on the Prince's Islands on the Marmara Sea.

Yusuf Muntazam is a maritime vocational school student who is doing an internship at the Avcilar fire station. What he likes most is the family atmosphere at the station.

"I am looking forward to joining the Istanbul Fire Department when I finish school," he told Xinhua. The moment when he rescued a child from a fire was the most memorable one from his two-month-long internship.

"I went inside the burning house and saw the kid coughing due to the smoke and I immediately took her in my arms. I felt so brave when she hugged me tightly," he said.

Sevda Hanbas, a firefighter, is another team member at the station. It's been seven months since she graduated as a professional firefighter.

One of the challenges of her job is the heavy weight of the clothes and equipment, which may weigh as much as 20 kilograms, she said.

"My husband is also a firefighter... I hope we will continue this profession shoulder to shoulder in the future," she said, calling on more women to join the Istanbul Fire Department either professionally or as volunteers.

Turkey battled massive forest fires in July and August in some southern and southwestern coastal resort towns which killed at least eight people and numerous animals. Many firefighters, coming from various parts of the country worked hard to control the blazes.