The Minister of Civil Protection spoke about the large fire that reached Patima Chalandriou and Vrilissia, about the compensations that will be given and also about the reinforcement of the fire brigadeVassilis Kikiliason Tuesday morning on SKAI and on the “Today” show.

As he said, until today we have 4,000 fire starts, i.e. 50% more compared to last year.

Talking with numbers he said that 4,000 volunteers are in the fire brigade, 5,000 in civil protection and 840,000 “volunteers” who “put their backs” and cleaned their plots.

Specifically, regarding the fire that started from Varnavas and reached Patima Chalandriou and Vrilissia, he said that “it did not go out in Varnavas because the conditions were insurmountable.”

As he said, 8 and 9 Beaufort winds were blowing at the scene, and the fire traveled 20 km in 40 hours, passing through 20 settlements to reach these two areas.

In fact, he himself emphasized that “the fire in the urban fabric reached 5 minutes because Barnabas is also an urban fabric”.

“There was a huge battle with the lives of the firefighters at risk,” he pointed out.

He referred to civil protection reforms in which he proceeded by saying that “I brought a drone and we monitor the start of fires day and night in real time. He changed the doctrine of the airmen and they fly loaded.”

At the same time, he noted that a discussion has begun in order to change the planting near the houses and to install slow-burning trees.

For compensation

Regarding when the compensations will be given, he said that “the technical steps have been passed and they are approved by the municipal authorities. Then they get the first aid of 600 euros and then the total compensation” emphasizing that the money will be given within the first 15th day of September.

To strengthen the fire department

Answering the question on whether the fire department will be further strengthened, he emphasized that 1.7 billion were auctioned in the last 10 months. euro projects and 400 million of them have been contracted. He referred to the purchase of firefighting vehicles, Canadair and other means while, as he said, at the same time the forest commando units were strengthened. As for the new Canadairs, the first 3 will arrive at the beginning of 2027 and by 2030, 2 will arrive from the EU while five more will be purchased.