From the “hosanna” that we hear about the Fire Brigade all summer, we suddenly, within 40 hours, went “to the crossroad”. I do not accept this. I have enormous confidence in the chief, the deputy chief, the chief of staff, the officers, the firefighters, the forest commanders, the volunteers and all these people, who every day since May 1, 24 hours a day, are fighting huge battles.” The above was underlined by the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias in an interview he gave to the central news bulletin of ANT1.

With reference to the statements of the president of SYRIZA, Stefanos Kasselakis, Mr. Kikilias emphasized: “The use of aircraft and helicopters is exclusively for the chief of the Fire Department and we have made sure that no one can interfere. Mr. Kasselakis came to ESKEDIK, we hosted him, guided him through a difficult operational moment for us, because he chose that time. We gave him good faith from ENGAGE – which is an automated system and is now used in the new era by the Civil Protection – all the data about the 20 aerials that were flying over the fire at the time he was at ESKEDIK. However, he insisted on 3. Man either does not understand or pretends not to understand. Criticism does not concern me, I am not interested, it can be done in good faith or in bad faith by anyone. It is in the context of political confrontation. But here we are talking about black propaganda against the Fire Brigade. And this is unacceptable. It’s populism. It’s insulting. I think that Mr. Kasselakis is doing it in case he succeeds and consolidates himself in the position of the president of SYRIZA. I don’t see it if it continues like this.” He added that the same figures that the Fire Brigade Headquarters released for the number of airmen that attempted, are also available in the control towers of the airports.

Regarding the operational management of the fire, he cited the very large forces of the Fire Department, ELAS, the Armed Forces and the volunteers who coordinated enormous efforts. “199 fire engines, 36 aerial vehicles, 1,930 police officers, 685 police vehicles, 1,683 evacuations, 284 rescues. Our Armed Forces with the teams “XENOKRATIS” and “DEFKALION”. Sixteen volunteer groups of the Fire Department and volunteer groups of the local government. They all synchronized and worked together. So to the question “if the state and the State were there” the answer is that “the state and the organized state were there” and they saved dozens of lives. Hundreds of lives.”

Finally, he spoke about the battles that the Fire Brigade and all the Civil Protection forces are fighting this year from very early on. “I explained before the fire season and very early on that we will have a very difficult fire season with shockingly difficult conditions. So, it really happens. Except that the Fire Department has risen to the occasion all these months. There is a need to show these people our respect and appreciation for their strength, passion, self-sacrifice and the battle they are fighting. There will also be very difficult times. This two days with the fire in Barnabas was one of them. Watch out, tomorrow meltemias start again with 6, 7, 8 Beauforts. With these weather conditions we will learn to live in the country” he said characteristically.