Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias, during a press conference on Friday, spoke of a “difficult time” and highlighted the self-sacrifice and heroism shown by those fighting the fires, also referring to the deaths of the two pilots.
After 15 days of extreme weather phenomena and 10 days with more than 600 fires, this was the first day that Greece was not in a state of red alert, he stated adding that never before “have we had a map on alert for so many days in a row, in so many regions.”
“During these days, 667 fires broke out. Over 60 fires per day, almost across the country. For yet another year, the vast majority were human-caused. They were arsons either due to criminal negligence or intent,” he said, explaining that the difference with other years was the weather conditions, in which the state mechanism had been tasked with managing the crisis.
“The climate crisis has caused an unprecedented heatwave. The climate crisis is here, it is not a theory, we are experiencing it. And it is not here only for this summer. It will be permanent and therefore we have to adapt our policies on all levels,” Kikilias stressed.
