Greece doubles drone fleet and deploys record firefighters to tackle growing wildfire risk

LAVRION, Greece (AP) — Greece is deploying a record number of firefighters and nearly doubling its drone fleet this summer to address growing wildfire risks driven by climate change, officials said Thursday.

Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis said 18,000 permanent and seasonal personnel, supported by thousands of volunteers, would be mobilized as wildfire damage 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 south of Athens.

Rising average temperatures and low rainfall have significantly worsened conditions in recent years.

Greek Fire Chief Lt. Gen. Theodoros Vagias told The Associated Press that additional elite firefighting units would be deployed to high-risk areas during the May 1–Oct. 31 fire season.

“The climate crisis is here to stay, and we must be more effective in surveillance, preparedness, and how we mobilize our resources,” Vagias said.

Wildfire damage surged to more than 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) in 2021 and 1,745 square kilometers (675 square miles) in 2023 — roughly three times the 2011–2020 average — according to data from the European Union’s Forest Fire Information System.

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Firefighters held an exercise Thursday to test Greece’s evolving wildfire response, which increasingly relies on advanced technologies such as drone surveillance and mobile command centers.

Fire planes skimmed treetops, releasing plumes of water in coordinated low-altitude drops, as commanders on the ground huddled over tablets streaming real-time drone footage. The coast guard 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 45.

Around 300 firefighters from the Czech Republic, France, Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria are being sent to Greece under a European Union prepositioning program, officials said.

__ Lefteris Pitarakis in Lavrion, Greece contributed to this report