“The conditions we face are insurmountable. We are heading for a very difficult firefighting period”, stressed the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilias.
As he pointed out, an exact forecast for weather phenomena cannot be made, as meteorological forecasts are made only a week in advance, nevertheless it is a fact that this winter has been dry: Last autumn lasted until December and was followed by only a short period of drop in temperature and some snowfall.
“Our scientists do not see anywhere in the great mountain masses of Greece, snow, ice that has remained, in order to melt in the summer”, he said characteristically in an interview he gave to the newspaper “Kathimerini tis Kyriaki”. To a question regarding the readiness of the state apparatus for the upcoming fire fighting season, the minister replied that important modernization and organization steps have been taken.
At the level of prevention, he mentioned that for the first time in history, DEDDIE and ADMIE are entering the forests to create fire zones, while zones will also be created around the perimeter of the camps within a radius of 100 meters.
In addition, the Ministry of the Interior and the forest offices are opening fire protection zones of many kilometers in the forests and there is now an obligation to clean all citizens their plots in peri-urban, forest areas, otherwise they will be fined by municipalities.
Kikilias: The air fleet will be the same as last year, i.e. 88 air vehicles
Mr. Kikilias also spoke regarding the new doctrine of the Fire Brigade in dealing with forest fires, which includes, among other things, a greater and more timely mobilization of the forces at the start of the fire with aerial vehicles taking off in the first 20 minutes, immediate participation of volunteers in the field and .a.. As he said, the air fleet will be the same as last year, i.e. 88 aerial vehicles, while the ground forces will be the largest we have ever had with 15,000 permanent firefighters and 2,500 seasonal ones.
“A very important strategic move is that while we had six units of forest rangers, this year we have 16, we hired another 700 forest rangers. Being able to take some firefighters and get them by helicopter quickly to an elevation where we have a fire outbreak gives us a strategic advantage,” said Mr Kikilias.
To a question regarding the Fire Brigade, which is considered one of the oldest in Europe, he answered: “What I received in the Fire Brigade was subject to many improvements. We have had a large number of new firefighters in concessionaires or airports or non-first responder services.. The first obligation, responsibility and condition, is for the firefighters to put their boots on the forests and put out the forest fires. So, if you ask me, was there a restructuring of the entire Fire Department? Of course. A fire guard at a fire station can be 60 years old and 65 years old and 57 years old. Mind you, the average firefighter age is 49 years. I want this to be heard and known throughout the world.”
Vasilis Kikilias for the AEGIS program
The minister also referred to the AEGIS programme: “I am very proud of it. It is a Civil Protection program which was inspired and approved by the prime minister and which was not progressing at the pace it might. The prime minister asked me to proceed quickly and I implemented that. We are currently talking regarding well over a billion euros in tenders over the last six months. They concern the purchase of new canards, ten medium-type helicopters, 25 plus 8 amphibious aircraft, tractors that take water from the sea, or the lake and attack directly and quickly in the field, while they can also take retardant liquid, three detection and surveillance aircraft, over 100 drones, 1100 fire engines, sensors, cameras, in the forests and more… It is a very big gift for Greek society”, he said.
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