Greece will deploy a record number of firefighters and nearly double its drone fleet this summer to address growing wildfire risks driven by climate change, officials have said.
Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis said 18,000 permanent and seasonal personnel, supported by thousands of volunteers, would be mobilised as damage caused by wildfires has increased steadily over the past two decades.
"It is clear that the conditions this year will be particularly difficult," Kefalogiannis told reporters after attending a firefighting exercise near Athens.
Rising average temperatures and low rainfall have significantly worsened conditions in recent years.
Greek Fire Chief Lieutenant General Theodoros Vagias told The Associated Press that additional elite firefighting units would be deployed to high-risk areas during the 1 May–31 October fire season.
"The climate crisis is here to stay, and we must be more effective in surveillance, preparedness, and how we mobilise our resources," Vagias said.
Wildfire damage affected more than 1,300 square kilometres in 2021 and 1,745 square kilometres in 2023, roughly three times the 2011–2020 average, according to data from the European Union’s Forest Fire Information System.
Firefighters held an exercise to test Greece's evolving emergency response, which increasingly relies on advanced technologies such as drone surveillance and mobile command centres.
Fire planes skimmed treetops, releasing plumes of water in coordinated low-altitude drops, as commanders on the ground viewed progress on tablets streaming real-time drone footage.
The coastguard and armed forces took part in a drill simulating the evacuation of a children’s summer camp threatened by fires on multiple fronts.
Officials said the number of firefighting personnel has increased by roughly 20% over the past two years, while the fleet of fire-surveillance drones has grown to 82, up from the previous 45.
Around 300 firefighters from the Czech Republic, France, Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria are being sent to Greece under an EU prepositioning programme, officials said.
Greece's deadliest wildfire killed 104 people in 2018, at a seaside resort near Athens that residents had not been warned to evacuate.
