Greece beefs up firefighting prowess for blazing summer

[Pelican Press 0]

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Greece beefs up firefighting prowess for blazing summer

Greece is deploying a record number of firefighters and nearly doubling its drone fleet this summer to address growing wildfire risks driven by climate change.

Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis said 18,000 permanent and seasonal personnel, supported by thousands of volunteers, would be mobilised as wildfire damage has increased steadily in the past two decades.

“It is clear that the conditions this year will be particularly difficult,” Kefalogiannis told reporters on Thursday after attending a firefighting exercise south of Athens.

Rising average temperatures and low rainfall have significantly worsened conditions in recent years.

Greek fire chief Theodoros Vagias told The Associated Press that additional elite firefighting units would be deployed to high-risk areas during the May 1-October 31 fire season.

“The climate crisis is here to stay, and we must be more effective in surveillance, preparedness, and how we mobilise our resources,” Vagias said.

Wildfire damage surged to more than 1300 square kilometres in 2021 and 1745 sq km in 2023 – roughly three times the 2011-2020 average, according to data from the European Union’s Forest Fire Information System.

Firefighters held an exercise on Thursday to test Greece’s evolving wildfire response, which increasingly relies on advanced technologies such as drone surveillance and mobile command centres.

Fire planes skimmed treetops, releasing plumes of water in coordinated low-altitude drops, as commanders on the ground huddled over tablets streaming real-time drone footage.

The coast guard and armed forces took part in a drill simulating the evacuation of a children’s summer camp threatened by fires on multiple fronts.

Officials said the number of firefighting personnel has increased by roughly 20 per cent in the past two years while the fleet of fire-surveillance drones has grown to 82, up from 45.

About 300 firefighters from the Czech Republic, France, Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria are being sent to Greece under a European Union program, officials said.

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