Fire in Rethymnon: Almost 20,000 acres are estimated to have burned

The valuation of burned areas from the fire on Melampes of Rethymno from the Region of Crete, with the help of satellite data for the entire fire. These are the data that were finalized through GIS CRETE, the processes of detailed assessment of burned areas, based on the Sentinel-2 satellite data, with a reference period of 15/07/2022 – 20/07/2022.

In the geospatial information infrastructure GIS CRETE, the interactive information map is now freely accessible https://gis.crete.gov.gr/sdi/modules/sentinelhubmonitoring/monitor-ing/#x=2745670%2By=4182074%2Bs=12%2Blayers=WILDFIRES-RETHYMNO%2Bmaxcc=20%2Bgain=1%2Btime =2022-06-19/2022-07-19%2Bmode=compareMode%2Bdate1=2022-07-18%2Bdate2=2022-07-20

This map gives a clear picture of the extent of the damage, both in terms of extent and type. The characterization of the affected area is based on the land use legislation “according to Corine 2018”, as well as the forest land categories. According to the report, the incinerated area covers an area of ​​19,940 hectares, which are distributed as follows: “Olive groves 38.5%, Vineyards 4.9%, Agricultural land (crops) 12.7%, Natural pastures 26.7%, Sclerophyllous vegetation 15.6%, Areas with sparse vegetation 1.2%, Discontinuous urban tissue 0 .4%”.

A similar analysis is available for categories according to the classification of burned forest areas. Specifically: “Forest lands 16.5%, Grasslands 7.5%, Non-forest lands 76%”. In the meantime, the competent services remind that throughout the fire fighting period of the year 2022, in accordance with the official directive of the Civil Protection, the traffic ban maps in each Regional Unit for the days with a risk index of 4 & 5 are freely available to the citizens through GIS CRETE at the link https://gis.crete.gov.gr/sdi/?tab=viewport_maptab&loader=map6_loader_pub-lic&lon=2762663.5125719&lat=4201151.0570441&zoom=9 but also on the main page of the Region of Crete https://www .crete.gov.gr/chartes-politikis-prostasias/

Speaking to APE, mayor of Agios Vasilios which was affected by the fires, emphasized the need for an immediate upgrade of the fire department to category D, according to which the two fire stations of the seasonal levels in Krya Vrysi and Myrthio will be immediately strengthened. At the same time, as he pointed out, “…every place is a place for all of us, it needs the personal protection of each one of us individually and as it was proven on the fire fronts, only through the joint cooperation of the official government, fire brigade and citizens, we can achieve positive results” . Speaking about the future of the municipality, he spoke of the activation of the state so that, at the first level, those affected are strengthened so that they can cope with their daily lives, that there be the necessary financing-compensations for the animal and plant capital, that the necessary projects be carried out will be needed, given that next winter finds the affected areas unfortified, without bureaucratic embankments, and above all, any effort by the Municipality of Agios Vassiliou to remain a living, historical, touristic, spiritual municipality, with protagonists, will be strengthened by the relevant ministries its residents, who have chosen through the primary sector to remain staunch defenders of a mountainous municipality which lends so much to the identity of the whole of Crete”.

Finally, according to the latest development as told to APE by Mr. Tatarakis, which concerns the compensations of those affected by the recent fires in the region, it was announced by the government that: “The compensations will be given by the permanent State Aid mechanism which means that they will be direct and higher than the PSEA mechanism and without unnecessary bureaucracy. According to my information, it will be around 100 euros per olive tree for farmers as their main occupation and 50 euros per tree for those who are not as their main occupation, with 50% advance payment and the rest with the restoration of the crop and correspondingly high it will also be for the vineyards without knowing the exact amount.” From the first moment, the mayor of Agios Vassiliou had pointed out, both publicly and in the meetings with the residents, that: “Another way of compensation should be followed and not through the time-consuming process of the PSEA which will take years and give crumbs. I thank the Member of Parliament of Rethymnon Yiannis Kefalogiannis with whom I have been in constant communication all these days and I know the contacts and the pressures he exerted on the Deputy Minister Christos Triandopoulos with responsibility for matters of state aid in order to achieve the goal of immediate healing of the wounds of the fire”.

RES-EMP

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