In his public statements in the previous days, the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilias appeared with his left hand tied. Many wondered about the minister’s injury, as it had preceded the 40-hour battle with the flames in Attica and he is not known for his mild temperament in moments of tension and crisis. Police and fire officials privately tell identical stories of paranoia when control was lost as was apparently the case in the recent devastating fire.
The fire could potentially be contained before it spreads to a front of about 23 kilometers
At the broad inter-ministerial meeting last Tuesday, Kikilias informed his colleagues that he suffered a dislocated shoulder falling off his bicycle. An explanation, a manifestation of everyday life, such as the climate that was attempted to be formed after the meeting chaired by Kyriakos Mitsotakis and generously distributed reparations. However, nothing resembles everyday life, as the burns have just stopped steaming and everyone is on alert as four days of high temperatures and strong winds are expected this weekend.
The unfortunate declaration and “returns”
“Every year we try to get better, with the conditions unfortunately becoming more and more difficult” was the phrase attributed to the Prime Minister, who hastily returned from his vacation in Chania. An unfortunate statement, because by the time the government improves enough, all of Attica may have burned down, and it does not comfort those who lost their properties, nor does it reassure those who care about the environment, the forests and the life in them. Especially when one or two extreme phenomena are consistently recorded every summer.
The first air ambulance did go to Barnabas within 5 minutes, but a second did not follow, because there was a misjudgment that the Fire Department and the terrain in Marathon would stop the fire.
Gradually they returned to Athens and the Makis Voridis, Akis Schertsos, Pavlos Marinakis, George Mylonakis and anyone else who had a role in the state apparatus. Among the political absences was counted o Nikos Hardaliaswho appeared in the inter-ministerial. The Prime Minister visited the Joint Operations Coordination Center twice, although very soon after the fire started in Varnavas the perception had prevailed that “this fire with this air does not go out”.
The analogies with the Eye, the nightmare that cannot be erased from the souls of the Athenians, may not be direct, but governmental management is: In extreme conditions our possibilities are limited, then let us settle for reparations and an emotional outburst for the “heroes firefighters and volunteers”. Also, a hooray for “112” that prevents human casualties, although humans are becoming victims of nature more and more in one way or another.
The misjudgment of the fire
But is it so? Are extreme conditions always to blame for the climate crisis, or is the planning for a climate that no longer exists, and instead of doing a serious long-term job, every government just buys more and more firefighting equipment?
The recent fire could potentially be contained before it spreads to a front of about 23 kilometers. The first air vehicle did go to Varnavas on the spot within 5 minutes, but a second one did not follow, because there was a misjudgment that the Fire Department and the terrain in Marathon would stop the fire. Ground forces remained there. When the fire reached the urban fabric, in Vrilisia and Chalandri, according to testimonies, the Coordination Center was destabilized.
We have all seen on the televisions places where for a long time there were volunteers and police but no firefighters, while residents complain that in some cases the firefighters did not know what to do, because they had been brought from other parts of Greece and the coordination was deficient. Key points for fire protection were “missed” and when the fire reached Rapentosa and the Pentelis-Vrilision stream, unsanitary from the Attica Region, it was only a matter of time before it penetrated the urban fabric, leaving behind in addition to material damage and one dead person .
Unanswered questions
Is the climate crisis responsible for this? Is there planning for the event that the fire ceases to be forest and enters the urban fabric, since everyone admits that the fires are now becoming more aggressive due to the prolonged heat? Has the risk of streams as fire crossings, as was the case last Sunday and Monday, been incorporated into the operational plans? Why did the Fire Department allow so many flare-ups, which we all saw live, when in previous years one of its main priorities was to completely extinguish the fires? Does the improvement that the Prime Minister sees include “operational memory” or will it all be left to the personal characteristics of each Fire Chief?
“Every year we try to get better, with the conditions unfortunately becoming more and more difficult”, was the phrase attributed to the Prime Minister, an unfortunate statement because by the time the government improves enough, all of Attica may have burned down
These would be more interesting to learn about than the 14 meters for firecrackers. To be fair, the fire protection design has improved in recent years, but perhaps, given the circumstances, it is not sufficient. This year, fire protection relied heavily on technology, on the “doctrine of drones”, as the minister in charge called it, which, as he informed, “encountered great difficulties”.
At the same time, the government praises the doctrine of the 25 state-of-the-art drones that monitor the mountains of Attica, for the timely extinguishing of all previous outbreaks, which were counted in 3,543 to date. This particular example in itself shows the limits of the system. It shows that the equipment is not enough, that they need continuous and specialized training of the firefighters, information and training of the residents, essential cooperation of the Local Government. Furthermore, the annual debate on the performance of forest land prevention and management should be seriously opened to the Forestry Service, which knows best the strength of the forests of each region, and the suppression of fires should be left to the Fire Brigade.
People are losing their confidence
At the Maximos Palace they deny that there is a Kikilia issue, as the president of SYRIZA Stefanos Kasselakis asked for his resignation. But what will the dismissal of the responsible minister in the middle of the fire season offer? The matter goes beyond the responsibilities of one person, unless for the official opposition everything is exhausted in the old-fashioned announcements of resignations of ministers, which at this juncture offer a way out for the Prime Minister, who insists that everything was done well despite the unfortunate result.
The damage is less than initial estimates, say government officials, who disagree on whether there will be a political cost, as others say it is inevitable but the government will absorb it and some believe the fires are not being blamed by the public on governments. . However, people are worried, lose their confidence, get irritated and become skeptical even about reparations after seeing what (didn’t) happen in Thessaly. The summer is not over yet and the Prime Minister has Daniel’s anniversary and TIF ahead of him, and let’s hope not another disaster.
At this juncture his proposal Nikos Androulakis for a pre-arranged debate in Parliament on the fires in Attica could prove to be a good opportunity for substantive discussion and – why not? – consent. The matter does not lend itself to either government fortification or denunciation opposition and concerns the last citizen as well. A departure from the established would give some hope.
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