By Penelope Galliou

With the fire danger index still today in the “red”, the government and the entire state apparatus also remain on high alert and alert in order to manage the consecutive fire fronts that broke out in the previous two twenty-four hours, while the assessments are ominous and for today.

“A difficult day is dawning. We remind you that the meteorological conditions that are expected to prevail tomorrow, combined with the strong winds of intensity 7 Beaufort in the Aegean, increase the risk of fire occurrence and expansion. We ask for the cooperation of all citizens. The heat wave has not lost its momentum and any negligence can lead to a major disaster”, noted the press representative of the Fire Brigade, fire chief, Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, in an emergency briefing.

The first assessments in the government staff are that the state apparatus did and is still doing with self-denial, the best possible to respond to the crisis conditions caused by the large fires in Attica, Boeotia and Corinthia, noting the immediate mobilization of the state apparatus and volunteers who were thrown from the first moment into the unequal struggle with the fiery conflagration, while at the same time it is estimated that there was the appropriate coordination to deal with the many and simultaneous outbreaks.

It is also recalled that this year a specific plan for this year’s fire fighting season had been drawn up in time, having been allocated on time and increased compared to other years, funds to the municipalities for cleaning and fire protection, while both the vehicles that are available for fire fighting have increased, as well as the aerial means, national and leased, located throughout the territory.

In any case, the absolute priority for the entire state apparatus is the protection of human life, as the Prime Minister emphatically emphasized from Brussels, from where he hastily returned yesterday afternoon due to the developments, during his first statements after the outbreak of the fires . He particularly insisted on the appeals to citizens to obey the instructions of the Civil Protection, saying that “our first concern, always, is the protection of human life, followed by the protection of property and our natural environment”.

The relief of the victims is also among the government’s priorities after the devastating fires, as already in the areas where the fires were dealt with, the recording of the damages has already begun, so that the compensations of the victims can proceed quickly, as assured by Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself. .

However, what is certain for the government is that the effects of climate change are already here and it draws the attention of everyone, citizens and agencies, to the effects of the climate crisis which these days is reflected in the most unpleasant way, the uncontrolled and multiple fire outbreaks that occurred across the territory.