The Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilias said the majority of the forest fires that swept across Greece over the past 15 days were a result of either deliberate arson or accidents during a press conference on Friday in Athens.

Kikilias went on to say that 667 fires occurred over the past 15 days, more than 60 fires a day. “They were caused by human hands. The majority of them were arsons either by criminal negligence or by intention,” he said, adding that “The difference with other years was the weather conditions. The climate crisis that gave a historically unprecedented heatwave is here. In the last 10 years we have had very few days of extreme heat wave conditions combined with strong winds. Not since 2003 have we had a map with very high risk categories for five days and in so many regions. The Fire Department has brought the majority of all these areas under control. However, 10 fires took on major proportions and tested the limits and resilience of everyone and above all the residents.”

Kikilias described the period as difficult and underlined the sacrifice and heroism of all those fighting the fires, referring to the death of the two pilots. The difference with other years, the minister noted, was the weather conditions, in which the state apparatus was called upon to manage the crisis. Politicians, the state mechanism, and citizens must seriously manage the new conditions, Kikilias said.

“Never before have we had a map on alert for so many days in a row, in so many regions”, he said. Referring to the about 660 fires, he pointed out most of them were dealt with but ten of them took on major proportions, testing everyone’s strength. 74 people were injured and three died. The timely use of 112 as Rhodes’ largest evacuation operation once again worked effectively.”

The state, said Kikilias, will do what it should and ought to do to relieve the affected people and the affected areas.

At the same time, Vassilis Kikilias said that 400,000 acres have been burned so far, while the average annual average for Greece is 500,000. “Far be it from us to think that everything has been done right. We did what we could under the circumstances. The degree of difficulty operationally proved to be too great. We do not blame ourselves, we see reality in the face,” he also said, while the minister noted that there was a fire that overtook a 200-meter fire zone, while fire storms of 1,000 degrees Celsius were created.