Greece will deploy a record number of firefighters and nearly double its fleet of drones this summer to combat growing forest fire threats caused by climate change.
Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis said 18,000 permanent and seasonal workers would be deployed, supported by thousands of volunteers, as damage from forest fires has steadily increased over the past two decades.
“It is clear that conditions this year will be particularly difficult,” Mr Kefalogiannis told a news conference after visiting a fire drill south of Athens.
Rising average temperatures and low precipitation levels have made the situation much worse in recent years.
Greece's fire chief, Theodoros Vagias, told The Associated Press that extra elite firefighting teams will be deployed to high-risk areas during the fire season from May 1 to Oct. 31.
“The climate crisis is not going away and we need to better manage the situation, ensure preparedness and mobilise resources,” Mr Vagias said.
According to the European Wildfire Information System, forest fire damage increased to more than 1,300 square kilometres (500 square miles) in 2021 and 1,745 square kilometres (675 square miles) in 2023, about three times the 2011–2020 average.
Firefighters held a drill on Thursday to test Greece's new methods of responding to wildfires, which increasingly rely on modern technology such as drone surveillance and mobile command centres.
Firefighting planes flew over the treetops, dropping jets of water in a coordinated fashion from low altitude, while commanders on the ground huddled around tablets, streaming live images from drones.
Coast Guard and military forces took part in a drill to evacuate a children's summer camp that was threatened by fires on multiple fronts.
The number of firefighters has increased by about 20 percent in the past two years, and the number of drones monitoring fires has increased from 45 to 82, officials said.
Also, about 300 firefighters from the Czech Republic, France, Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria are being sent to Greece as part of a European Union programme.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
