Vasilis Kikilias spoke of the superhuman efforts of all those who fought to extinguish the fire. The Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection also said that at this time there is no active fire front, only scattered hotspots, and he discussed the response time when the fire broke out in Varnava and the conditions that prevailed at the time.
«Forty hours after the extremely dangerous fire broke out in Varnava, we can say that there is no active fire front, but rather scattered hot spots. During these 40 hours in northeastern Attica, 702 firefighters, along with 27 forest firefighting teams, 199 vehicles, and 35 aerial assets—specifically 17 aircraft and 18 helicopters, three of which were dedicated to coordination. »Volunteers, police, the military, forest rangers, and forest workers, the Attica Region, and municipalities, with the assistance of the 112 emergency service, evacuated and rescued 45 areas,” Mr. Kikilias said initially, and continued:
«I will say once again that at the first fire on Sunday afternoon, the response time was 5 minutes by air and 7 minutes by fire department vehicles. That is the reality. Despite the extremely rapid operational response—the new doctrine that, combined with the technological support of drones, was applied throughout the summer to hundreds of fires—when extreme conditions prevail, the problem becomes insurmountable. We had a fire danger level of 5 with winds of 7–8 Beaufort, a prolonged drought, and an inaccessible area with these characteristics—mountains, forests, as well as settlements and scattered homes. In other words, we’re not talking about a simple fire that unfortunately got out of control… We’re talking about the most difficult and dangerous scenario for everyone—firefighters, emergency responders, and residents alike. That is the reality, and that is what we faced.».
And the minister concluded: «The people who spent all those hours experiencing the actual conditions under which we were operating in northeastern Attica are well aware of them. Amid the ordeal they endured—the fear, the anger, or the deep sorrow because, unfortunately, a female worker was also lost—they know that the firefighters, the police, local government, volunteers, and the military were there and fought with superhuman effort to prevent the worst from happening. »It is these very same firefighters who have been working all summer, putting out one fire after another.”.
