With the meeting that took place today for Attica, the series of meetings throughout Greece between the executives of tof the Fire Brigade and the Forest Service. These are meetings that mark a new beginning in the cooperation of the two services, after 24 yearsfor the best preparation of the mechanism in view of the fire period.
The meeting took place at the premises of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, under the Minister, Christos Stylianidis and the Deputy Minister of Environment, George Amyrasin the presence of the Deputy Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Evangelou Tournasthe Secretary General of Civil Protection, Vassilios Papageorgiou and the Secretary General of Forests, Konstantinos Arabosis.
In his statements, the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianidis, underlined: “Today we are completing a cycle of meetings at ministerial level between the Fire Brigade and the Forest Services, after 24 years of inactivity. And I consider myself very lucky because I found in my journey my colleague, Deputy Minister Mr. George Amyrasbut also the Deputy Minister, Mr. Evangelos Tournaswho worked to hold these meetings throughout Greece with great success.
The Forest Services and the Fire Brigade are the main actors in forest management and all phases of fires. All the meetings proved that the two services can work together before, during and after the fires, in a great way. Through this new osmosis, we believe that we are better prepared to face a difficult period of fire.
Prevention and synergies, these are the axes of our preparation. A key precaution is exactly what we are doing here today – to get together and work together in the field. We already have examples from the fires that started in Pyrgos and in Argalasti of Pelion, where the Fire Brigade and the Forest Service cooperated and that is why we had a limit of the burned acres.
We’ve had more fires than other years lately, but we’ve had fewer acres burned. And that shows that the preparation is better – and the preparation is based exactly on the synergy of the Fire Brigade and the Forest Service “.
The Minister also noted that corresponding meetings will continue to be held at the local level, in cooperation with the Municipalities and the Regions, noting: “We do not fly in the clouds, a difficult summer is coming. We will have a strengthening of our air means, but I believe that this new synergy of the Fire Brigade and the Forest Service is our main compass to face the difficulties. Cooperation is the key. “Because the fires are extinguished by our Firefighters, in collaboration with the Forest Services”.
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Environment, George Amyras, noted characteristically: “There are two keys to deal with the consequences of the climate crisis and, of course, forest fires. One is prevention – and we work very closely with the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection and in particular with the Minister, Mr. Stylianidis. With prevention as our primary concern, we begin in the coming days, we at the Ministry of Environment, with the cooperation of the Fire Department, but also the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, to clean 40 thousand acres of critical forest ecosystems. These are sensitive and very important forests that we must protect. At the same time, we are opening about 1,600 km of fire zones. We maintain and open a forest road network that reaches 16,000 km.
These are preventative moves. The second key point is synergy, collaboration. We have developed an excellent cooperation and for the first time, after 24 whole years, we bring in communication, in an institutionalized and automated way, the Forest Services with the Fire Brigade.
But all this will not be enough if each citizen individually, each Mayor, each Regional Governor, does not take and we do not all take the responsibility to preserve the forest ecosystems. 95% of fires in Greece are caused by human negligence. This must stop now. We are ready, we will give battle. “The climate crisis is present and it is dangerous, but we are doing everything in our power to deal with its consequences.”
The meeting was also attended by the Attica Regional Governor, George Patoulis, as well as all the Vice-Regional Governors and specifically, Civil Protection and Environment Vassilios Kokkalis, West Attica Eleftherios Kosmopoulos, East Attica Athanasios Avgeroukou Viratrios, Piraeus sector of Athens, George Dimopoulos, North sector of Athens Loukia Kefalogianni, West sector of Athens Andreas Leotsakos and South sector of Athens Dimitra Nanou.
Also present were the Chief of the Fire Brigade, Lieutenant General Alexios Rapanos and the entire physical leadership of the PS, the General Director of Forests and Forest Environment of RIS, Evangelos Goudoufas, the Heads of Forest Departments, as well as all Forest Departments.
It is reminded that for the best coordination in view of the fire season, the two Ministries joined forces and inaugurated a new synergy, organizing joint meetings throughout Greece of the local Fire Services with the Forest Service executives, in order to strengthen their cooperation on issues. forest protection – forest firefighting, as well as for the clarification of responsibilities and roles. In the context of all the meetings, the common will of all involved was confirmed for close cooperation in all stages of firefighting and in particular, in the prevention, suppression and restoration of the natural environment.
The first two meetings took place in Thessaloniki and Larissa under the Minister Christos Stylianidis and the Deputy Minister George Amyras, then meetings were held in Ioannina, Patras and Crete, under the Deputy Ministers Evangelos Tournas and George Amyras, followed by a meeting with and South Aegean.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have a vast amount of experience in covering health news. I am also an author at News Bulletin 247. I am highly experienced and knowledgeable in this field. I am a hard worker and always deliver quality work. I am a reliable source of information and always provide accurate information.
