Northeastern Attica has been ravaged by fire – The government is provoking with unrealistic statements

Attica is burning again, and the clearest indication of the extent of the despair is the actions of the 84-year-old man. The man who, seeing his house burn down for the fourth time, took his own life. «Everything had burned down before; it couldn't take it anymore,», said the retired captain's wife. Earlier that morning, they called the fire department for help, but They were told they didn't have… water.

The fire, which has not yet been brought under control, started in Penteli, engulfed Pallini, Pikermi, Geraka, Drafi, and Anthousa, and is now heading toward Rafina. The 9,520 priests and 55,088 police officers were unable to do anything. The fire did not go out.

Absent during the disaster, «experts» in repression

Nor did the great satisfaction expressed at the Maximos Mansion just 6 days ago (which was leaked as a news story in the mainstream media) regarding the Preparing for the fire season by Christos Stylianidis: «Twelve-hour shifts at the office and a personal bet on the fires this coming summer. With over 50 fires a day and such strong winds, his performance has been deemed positive so far. By all accounts, he has prepared very well, and this is something the prime minister has appreciated. All the more so after the ordeal of the winter snowstorm, during which—being still new to his post—he paid a political price that was undeserved.».

Meanwhile, the only thing we remember about the government’s «thorough preparation for the fire season» is the images of shame when The government suppressed the protest using tear gas, water cannons, and police force seasonal firefighters who were demonstrating outside the Ministry of Civil Protection, calling for immediate reinforcement of the Fire Department with additional personnel.

Everything was on fire all night long. So that the Minister of State could come out George Gerapetritis, in an interview with ALPHA this morning, to describe the above as «a difficult exercise». First mentioning a wildfire near homes and then immediately claiming that the terrain is difficult to access. He described Pallini, Gerakas, Penteli, Anthousa, Drafi, and Paiania as rugged terrain.

But it didn't stop there either, and attributed it to the weather conditions the outbreak of multiple storms, stating that wind gusts of 10 and 11 Beaufort were recorded. The Minister of State stated that 90,000 citizens have been evacuated, a claim that the fire department denies since the fire department’s press secretary was very careful in his official statement, saying verbatim that: «Through reports to 112 and in cooperation with the Greek Police, organized evacuations of citizens were carried out as of this morning in an area home to 90,000 residents.».

Residents and volunteers in the all-night battle

Most residents stayed in the area to save their homes. A friend of mine who was volunteering in Gerakas last night described the situation as follows: «The situation from 3 a.m. until 7 a.m. was chaotic. Fires everywhere, explosions at power poles, half-burned animals roaming about, people refusing to leave as they tried to save their homes. No organization, very few firefighters. Burned-out houses and cars everywhere.».

In «Anthousa,” my friend describes the scene, showing me photos of the entire surrounding landscape—trees, houses, cars—all burned: “It was raining hard with all the hoses out from 5 p.m. until 3 a.m., when we left without securing the hoses in all directions—it didn’t catch fire; I don’t know how. Everything else is burned.».

Victims

So far, a 54-year-old man He is being treated in serious condition in the Burn Unit at the «Georgios Genimatas» Hospital. According to a statement from the hospital, «Patient M.E., aged 54, drove himself from the fire in Geraka, with extensive burns covering a total burn area of 60% of his total body surface area.». Overall 25 people have been taken to hospitals with burns and respiratory problems, specifically.

Reactions

Announcement by MERA25 calls on Kyriakos Mitsotakis «to immediately proceed with all necessary permanent hires and conversions to permanent status, as well as with the procurement of modern equipment, resources, and infrastructure so that we do not have to endure another »Northern Euboea’ situation this year”.

Let us recall here that on June 4, 2021, we wrote—in the wake of the fire at Panorama in Voula—that the Mitsotakis government, which hired 5,000 special guards for the University Police, decided to fill the 4,000 permanent positions in the Fire Department without a clear framework, mobilizing the army.

The full statement from MeRA25:

«On June 27, the Parliamentary Spokesperson and Member of Parliament for the Northern Athens District of MeRA25, Kleon Grigoriadis, raised the issue of the government’s preparedness for this year’s wildfire season with the relevant ministers, asking them: What exactly did the government do? As part of fire prevention efforts for this summer, have forest clearings been carried out, and if so, to what extent and by whom? What is the current staffing level of the Fire Department compared to last year—a year that was a failure both in practice and in results? How many firefighters have been hired, and if so, are they ready to begin duty immediately? How many seasonal firefighters have been made permanent? And finally, what is the number of available and operational technical resources allocated for firefighting, and by how much have these resources—that is, the resources currently available—increased since last year?;

The Deputy Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Mr. Tournas, assured us at the time that the necessary preparations had been made and that the government had taken all the necessary measures so that we would not have to relive the tragedies we witnessed last year. Unfortunately, Mitsotakis Inc.“s ”preparation“ was already ”evident” as of yesterday, with much of Attica once again engulfed in flames, even though weather conditions initially did not seem to justify this spread, while there are once again numerous complaints from citizens about water trucks and fire engines that did not proceed to extinguish the fires, waiting for some “order.”.

Obviously, the priority right now is to put out the fire, and our thoughts are with the residents of the area and everyone who is fighting this battle. However, we cannot help but think about the fact that There has been a long-standing erosion of forest protection and fire prevention measures, with the Mitsotakis government even deploying riot police and firing water cannons at the seasonal firefighters who were demanding permanent positions last year.

Climate change is a fact, but also the criminal policy of the current government and, over time, of the governments that implemented the memoranda, which, among other things, greatly undermined civil protection, has led to this explosive combination that we are, unfortunately, seeing again this year. We at MeRA25 had warned about this. The government reassured us. The wildfires are proving them wrong once again.

Let's call her, even at this late hour to immediately proceed with all necessary permanent hires and conversions to permanent status, as well as the procurement of modern equipment, resources, and infrastructure so that we do not have to go through another “Northern Euboea” situation this year. At the same time, we demand to be designated as areas for reforestation »and to prohibit the construction and installation of wind turbines on all burned areas.".

Maria Kefala