Contracts for the supply of 20 new floating means of rescue for the operational needs of the Fire Brigade and Civil Protection, were signed today by the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilia, in the context of the implementation of the AEGIS program. These are floating vehicles worth 12 million euros, which will be allocated, among other things, to special units of EMAK but also to port fire stations for firefighting, rescue and movement of firefighters, as well as for other operational needs of both the Fire Brigade and Civil Protection.

As the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, stated, all of these boats will be delivered between 4 and 12 months, and “there will be enough of them ready for the next fire season” and he added that their use it is multiple, being “a legacy to the Fire Brigade, Civil Protection and also to the next generations”. “We are running the AEGIS program very quickly and I think that seeing the climate crisis and how it affects our country and the Balkans and the Mediterranean – extreme droughts, extreme fires, very large floods – we will need all these means to protect our fellow citizens us. I can’t think of anything more patriotic, something more correct and moral, than doing everything you can when you are an organized State, to protect your fellow citizens and protect your country”, underlined Mr. Kikilias.

As Mr. Kikilias said, the AEGIS program makes it possible to equip the Fire Brigade, Civil Protection and security forces with these means. Mr. Kikilias referred to yesterday’s fire in Kimolos, stressing that “the Fire Brigade fought all night yesterday” and emphasized that while the fire fighting season has now come to an end, the Aegean islands are still being tested. “There are Beauforts. As we said, it hasn’t rained. We are obliged to face it”, he noted. At the same time, the minister pointed out that the rescue-firefighting boats that will be procured will be able to travel with 7,8, 9 Beaufort, as well as other boats, smaller and especially those that have to do with rescue, “sea rescue , the rescue in floods, the possibility to be able to access very difficult and dangerous areas”. “My strong plea is to adhere to the schedules, as we need these vessels immediately in the field”, underlined Mr. Kikilias. In addition, as he said, there will also be a donation of one more such type of boat and he added that the rescue and firefighting boats intended for the Fire Department will be received before the next fire season.

Regarding the AEGIS program, Mr. Kikilias pointed out that it is progressing at a very fast pace and they are equipping themselves with the means they need to protect the citizens. “It is commonplace now, that the Fire Brigade, our volunteers, our forest commanders, and the rest of the corps and the armed forces that have been fighting with us in the last six months in the fire fighting season, are being tested to the limits of their endurance. The new conditions oblige the Greek state to help, support and strengthen this effort”, noted Mr. Kikilias, while referring to yesterday’s debate in the Parliament, stressing that “yesterday, with emphasis, the Prime Minister mentioned that in these very difficult conditions, the extremely difficult conditions, to have 20% less burnt areas than the average of the last twenty years, with the worst fire-meteorological conditions of the last 40 years, is obviously a very important achievement in terms of protecting both the natural beauty and of people’s property, but mainly of human life”. “The men and women of the Fire Department have contributed the most to this and are still contributing in this firefighting season that is not over,” the minister underlined and pointed out that in the last 10 months they have “run” tenders of 1.7 billion euros. “We proved that when there is will and will – and this is the new patriotism that in practice – all that is required to protect the homeland and our fellow citizens is done”, concluded Mr. Kikilias.

For his part, the Deputy Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Evangelos Tournas, emphasized that the Fire Brigade is modernizing, reforming and imposing operational needs. “The Corps is being modernized by air, by sea, by land means. We are proceeding in such a way as to strengthen the mechanism for dealing with natural disasters as a whole, and especially the Fire Brigade, which is the dominant operational arm. We are continuing to work on this,” underlined Mr. Tournas.

The head of the Fire Brigade, lieutenant general, Theodoros Vagias, referred to the new conditions “imposed by the climate crisis”.

“The climate crisis forces us to modify our planning and also to receive new means in order to become more effective in dealing with its consequences. Thus, the contract with today’s means makes it possible to strengthen business planning. With these means, the PS will be operationally strengthened, they will be allocated to special port Fire Stations, special units of the Disaster Management Agency and they will be used for firefighting and rescue and for the transport of firefighters to island areas and not only”, he noted.

It is noted that the floating means will contribute, among other things, to the optimization of the response for the rescue, evacuation and transport of injured-patients, to the development of maritime operations that facilitate and contribute to the work and mission of the Fire Brigade and Civil Protection, in the sea ​​transport of pedestrian units or vehicles of the Fire Brigade, as well as other operationally involved bodies (EKAB etc.), when this is deemed necessary, as well as the transport of personnel, materials and means for the treatment of the affected.