When Greek firefighters investigated the cause of a deadly fire near the Athenian Riviera in August, they found a common culprit: a loose power cord, whose sparks were fired into a dry grass field.
The researchers’ report, seen by Reuters, said the cable near the city of Keratia showed signs of oxidation and inappropriate maintenance. Within a few hours, the fire had killed a person and had burned 4,000 acres (16 square kilometers) that bordered with tourist beaches south of the capital.
“It was very fast,” said Manolis Paleolougas, a resident of Keratea, showing an area with burnt land just outside the city, where the fire began.
Defective power cables
The defective power cables were the main cause of the big fires this summer, surpassing incendiary operations and negligence, according to preliminary data from the Fire Service that saw the reuters exclusively.
Of the 41 major fires in Greece investigated by the Fire Department, 15 were probably caused by the electricity grid, destroying 51,000 acres of land.
This figure is an increase compared to last year, according to data, and comes after years of underlying the electricity grid during the 2009-2018 debt crisis. It is added to the dangers of climate change, which has made the summers warmer and dry and the fires more devastating, costing the state billions of euros in the state.
“For many years, I and other colleagues have raised this issue with the flames caused by energy transport networks,” said Paleologos Palaiologou, Assistant Professor at the Agricultural University of Athens. “We must not hide the issue under the carpet,” he said.
Second report
A second report by the Fire Department that saw Reuters showed that in 2024, nine large fires were probably caused by the electricity grid, including one that broke out north of Athens and burned 10,000 hectares – an area equal to the size of Paris.
In Greece, the details of the causes of the fires are not generally published. Fire Department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis refused to comment on the data, as it is not public.
Public Electricity Distributor DEDDIE said it is conducting regular maintenance and increased maintenance costs to € 165 million in 2024 from € 122 million in 2019.
Actions include deforestation, pruning and security inspections, and has prioritized the underground cable placement to reduce the risk of fire, HEDNO said. Since 2012, he has been found guilty of only three fire -related cases, out of the approximately 122,000 fires recorded, he adds.
The government attributes the problem to lack of investment during the debt crisis before its rise to power in 2019.
This “overall left a huge gap to fill now,” Deputy Energy Minister Nikos Tsafos said in parliament this month.
In the meantime, local authorities lose their patience.
Dimitris Papachristou, mayor of the coastal cities affected by the August fire, said he would sue HEDNO for negligence this month for at least two major fires caused by cables this summer.
“We see the same story every year, all over Greece,” Papachristou told Reuters. “We have reached our limits,” he said.
Source: Skai
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