Climate Crisis Min Kikilias: New firefighting doctrine proved crucial despite extreme conditions

The Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Vasilis Kikilias, at an event for the review of the fire-fighting season, which took place in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, emphasized that: "Based on the very large number of extremely dangerous forest fire ignitions that were dealt with quickly and effectively this fire-fighting season, the new doctrine of civil protection proved crucial despite extreme conditions."

Civil Protection, as Kikilias said, proceeded with the redesign of its operational arm and its new doctrine, taking into account the data from previous years and the climate crisis.

Kikilias highlighted that the number of fires increased by 7.42% from January 1 to October 31 compared to the 20-year average. In 2024, the total number of fires was 9,500, which is above the average of 8,844 fires per year. He also stressed that the growing number of fires before and after the fire season, which he described as a cause for concern and a trend that is likely to become more prevalent in the future. Kikilias also stressed that 3,525 of the total 9,500 fires in 2024 occurred outside of the designated fire season.

As Kikilias said, there was a 13.67% reduction in the total area burned. In particular, he stated that the hectares burned in 2024 totalled 444,500, compared to an average of 515,000 hectares over the past twenty years.

He highlighted the most significant achievement of this year's fire season, after the protection of human life, as being the 76.45% reduction in burned forests.