Firefighters and a water-dumping helicopter battle a massive blaze in Porto Germeno, western Attica, on July 31. The fire also affected parts of neighboring Viotia. [Nikos Mitrousias/InTime News]
Safety is very much a matter of cultivating and adopting the requisite culture, which explains why investments in this area are always delayed.
Europe has been going through a particularly difficult summer this year. It has experienced major wildfires in the southwest (France and Spain), with tens of thousands of hectares burned and a significant number of deaths. We’ve had significant fires in the Netherlands and a fire alert in the United Kingdom. In other words, we are clearly facing an unprecedented situation.
Greece took major steps toward reforming its wildfire response mechanism after the deadly 2018 blaze in Mati in East Attica. The introduction of the 112 emergency alert system has helped save lives. The Aegis program, a flagship investment in civil protection co-financed by the European Union, is reequipping the National Civil Protection mechanism after years of shortages and the AntiNero program is boosting forest management with investments of millions.
The recent ratification of the “Active Battle” law will address many of the issues related to the management and training of firefighting crews. It is also important to mention that the transfer of forestry services from local government to the Ministry of Environment was completed with the transfer of personnel and the consolidation of forest policy (via laws such as 4915/2022), which will help protect our forests more efficiently.
