“This year we may have faced the most difficult summer of the past two decades,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Giannis Kefalogiannis said on Sunday in an interview with SKAI TV.
He clarified that the wildfire season “extends until the end of October” and that the full assessment “will be made at the end of October,” as September and October historically also see severe fires. In this context, he issued a “public appeal to be especially careful in the coming days,” noting that over the past two days fires broke out “due to lightning activity” in Western Macedonia.
Referring to the intensity of this summer, he highlighted that “since the beginning of the year we have had over 6,000 fires” a level similar, he said, to recent years, while pyrometeorological conditions worsen fire behaviour.
On the causes of fires, the minister reiterated that “ 70-75% are due to human factors, either negligence or intent-mainly negligence.”
He made special reference to technology as a tool for prevention and rapid response: “We have twice as many drones as last year-82 this year compared to 45 that were in operation last year. They also serve as a deterrent, but most importantly they detect smoke very quickly, before it develops into a fire.”
In conclusion, Kefalogiannis reiterated the government’s central strategic approach: prevention, strict law enforcement, and operational discipline. “The final assessment at the end of October will incorporate all data on areas burned and causes, with the commitment that Civil Protection will continue to be strengthened in personnel, resources, and technology, in order to protect human lives, property, and the natural environment,” he said.
