24.07.2025 20:59
The last message sent by 22-year-old Alperen Özcan, a volunteer of AKUT who was martyred while intervening in a forest fire that broke out in the Seyitgazi district of Eskişehir and crossed the border into Afyonkarahisar, has devastated his mother. It was learned that Özcan wrote in the message, "The extinguishing efforts are going well. We have started cooling down. If the wind doesn't blow from the opposite direction and reignite, we can finish today."
It has been learned that Alperen Özcan (22), a volunteer of the Search and Rescue Association (AKUT), who was martyred during the intervention in the forest fire in the Seyitgazi district of Eskişehir, went to the firefighting efforts despite his father's objections.
MARTYRED YOUNG MAN FAREWELLED TO HIS LAST JOURNEY
The funerals of 5 AKUT volunteers who were martyred in the forest fire that started in Seyitgazi, Eskişehir, and crossed into the Afyonkarahisar border were brought to the Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque to be farewelled to their last journey. It was stated that AKUT volunteer Alperen Özcan had also served during the earthquakes on February 6. It was learned that on the day Özcan was to go to Eskişehir, his father was anxious and delayed in traffic so that he wouldn't catch the service, but the vehicle going to the region waited and picked Özcan up.
"HE WAS A STRONG, BRAVE, SELF-ASSURED YOUNG MAN"
Cousin of the martyr Alperen Özcan, Hasan Biber, said, "We couldn't reach Alperen since yesterday at 12:00, but we thought it was due to the communication resources there. His mother, father, aunt, and grandfather set out towards Eskişehir at 21:00 to check on the hospitals. While they were about to pass Polatlı, a news came. The news said he was martyred. After receiving the news of his martyrdom, of course, the sad news spreads quickly. Everyone was informed immediately. He had volunteered for AKUT. He used to clean windows by hanging from ropes in shopping malls. He was a strong, brave, self-assured young man. He had gone there to help; for both animals and people. He was thinking of returning to his education, but it was not meant to be," he said.
HIS LAST MESSAGE TO HIS MOTHER WAS HEARTBREAKING
Biber stated that Özcan insisted on going to the region, saying, "According to what my uncle said, he didn't want to send him. Despite not wanting to send him, he insisted very much to go. They even delayed a bit in traffic so that he wouldn't catch the service, but since he was destined to die, he reached it to experience martyrdom. Despite the delays, those in the service waited for him. Before his martyrdom, there was a correspondence with his mother at 06:00; 'the extinguishing efforts are positive, we have started cooling; if the wind doesn't blow from the opposite direction and reignite, we can finish today' was the correspondence. He was also able to speak with his mother again around 12:00 noon. After that, there was no possibility of communication. He had also gone to the Kahramanmaraş earthquake recently. He was volunteering for other fires as well, but this time his trip was a bit more meaningful," he said.