Stylianidis forecast for fires: The summer will be harsh

Warnings for a hard summer – as he characteristically said – addressed the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianidis, during the emergency briefing, on Sunday morning, about the fire in Voula.

“We are still at the beginning of the summer and the goal is to mitigate the harsh effects of all these new phenomena arising from the climate crisis,” he said.

“The summer will be hard. “All the meteorological forecasts in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is considered as a hot spot of the climate crisis, show that things will not be easy this summer,” said Mr. Stylianidis, adding: “Our goal as a ministry is to mitigate all these phenomena”.

During the emergency briefing, the Minister of Climate Crisis stated: “Despite the adverse conditions, yesterday we managed due to coordinated efforts to reduce the difficult fire within 6-7 hours. For my part, I would like to warmly thank all those who fought to protect their fellow human beings and their property.

“Together they fought a very difficult battle with evacuations and organized evacuation of the population until the fire was extinguished.”

All the information from Messrs. Stylianidis and Tourna

The Minister in his introductory position stated: “Good morning from the National Coordination Center for Operations and Crisis Management, here at the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. We are here with the Deputy Minister, Mr. Evangelos Tournas, the General Secretary, Mr. Vassilis Papageorgiou and the Chief of the PS, Lieutenant General Alexios Rapanos, to give you a first assessment of the events.

Yesterday we faced a very difficult fire, here in Attica, due to the difficult weather conditions, but also the relief of the area. We are still in the beginning of summer and the goal, as we have set it from the beginning, is to mitigate the harsh effects of all these new phenomena arising from the climate crisis. The summer will be tough, as I said, because all the meteorological forecasts show that in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which is considered the hotspot of the climate crisis, unfortunately, things will not be easy.

Despite the adverse conditions, all those involved in the field and in terms of coordination managed, thanks to the efforts of all forces of the Civil Protection and the Fire Brigade, to reduce yesterday’s difficult fire within 6-7 hours. All the facts about the development of the events and the first evaluation will be reported to you immediately by the Deputy Minister Mr. Evangelos Tournas.

For my part, because I was in the field and saw exactly what happened, I want to warmly thank all those who fought to protect our fellow human beings and their property. It was a heroic effort.

In particular, let me insist on the Firefighters, our Firefighters and our volunteers. Of course, I do not ignore the great contribution of the Police, the Army and the Local Government. “Together, as a family, they fought a very difficult battle that included organized evacuation of the population, but also difficult conditions in the field.”

Subsequently, the Deputy Minister Mr. Tournas He noted: “Indeed, yesterday we faced a very difficult fire with three different outbreaks, which reached a suburban grove, very close to houses. As a result, despite the great collective effort, limited material damage will occur in some houses.

Despite the difficulty of the operation, we avoided civilian injuries or loss of human life. And this is very important. Especially in an area next to a dense urban fabric and with significant road problems.

The fire started at noon in Ano Glyfada and due to the strong winds that blew in the area, with gusts of up to 8 Beaufort, it quickly spread to the area of ​​Ano Voula. A little later, two more fires broke out, in the area of ​​Vari and in the area of ​​Kouvaras.

The mission of the Fire Brigade was very difficult. Let us not forget that at the same time, all over the country yesterday we had 61 forest fires.

There was a great mobilization of all those involved and a huge effort under the coordination of the Civil Protection and the Fire Brigade. With the assistance of the Local Government, the volunteers of the Fire and Civil Protection, the Armed Forces and the Greek Police. An effort that lasted all night to control small outbreaks and avoid flares. At the moment the situation is much better, the fire is now in remission, with no active burns, while strong forces remain in the area.

It was a difficult test for the whole mechanism, which proved that it can work in a coordinated manner, achieving important steps in a very difficult situation. Especially in the operation of organized evacuation of citizens from the area of ​​Ano Voula.

With coordination and continuous cooperation with all stakeholders we will continue to face the difficult summer that is still ahead of us. Thank you”.

Asked about the coordination of air and ground forces, the Minister stressed: “Coordination is a dynamic process and adjusts the planning according to developments in the field. Mr. Tournas will give you all the details “.

The Undersecretary stated in this regard: “The National Coordination Center for Operations and Crisis Management was informed at 12.57 about a fire in the Municipality of Glyfada.

The first fire trucks of the 8th Fire Station arrived at the scene in 12 minutes. They requested air support at 13.17, ie 5 minutes later. At 20 minutes, 2 CL-215, 2 CL-415, 1 SIKOR helicopter and 1 BK-117 helicopter of the PS took off for air coordination.

They followed in waves:

2 Bell-214, 2 CHINOC
1 additional SIKOR and 1 additional coordination helicopter of the fire brigade BK-117
2 CL-215 and
3 Air-Tractors from Anchialos
They operated a total of 17 aerial vehicles in successive waves for a constant presence and water supply in the fires and performed 36 flights and 66 flight hours.

It was a coordinated air operation that combined with the ground forces in an exceptional way and bore fruit very quickly. Of course it was the adverse conditions that changed the front, with a second fire that broke out 3 km away from the original, at Kremastos Lagos and which was directed towards Vari. While a third occurred in the area of ​​Kouvaras.

Despite the three fronts, the air operations were designed and carried out with very good coordination by the Operations Center and helped to effectively reduce and extinguish the fires and, ultimately, to reduce the damage caused. The fire has now been contained, residents have returned to their homes, while strong firefighters remain in the area for as long as needed, while aircraft continue to preemptively wet.

The Minister, taking the floor, stressed: “Let it not be underestimated that we actually had three different outbreaks in a few hours and this is something that always makes it difficult to manage a fire.”