A remarkable story demonstrating that old skills are never forgotten unfolded last Friday in Limnohori, Florina. Fanis Papas, an MP for the ND party representing Thessaloniki B, drew on his experience as a former mayor to extinguish a fire he encountered using the fire extinguisher from his car.

To start at the beginning: last Friday evening, in anticipation of a traditional New Year’s pie-cutting event the following day, ND MP Stavros Papasotiriou invited a group of friends, including ministers, deputy ministers, and MPs, to a weekend gathering in Florina. On the first day, he hosted dinner in the mountainous village of Limnohori. Late that night, the vehicles of ministers and MPs headed back to Nymfaio, where the guests were staying.

On the return trip, the convoy encountered a small-scale fire involving dry reeds burning by the roadside. The area was dry, with no rain that day and strong winds blowing. While several cars passed by, Fanis Papas—who was elected mayor of Sochos at the age of 29 in 2006 and later served as deputy regional governor of Central Macedonia—stepped out of his car. Armed with his car’s fire extinguisher, he put out the fire, which had the potential to spread further due to the windy conditions.

“I always keep a fire extinguisher in my car, and with my experience in local government, I know that a fire needs to be extinguished as early as possible, especially when the wind is blowing,” Papas told Proto Thema.

It is worth noting that among the attendees at the gathering were notable figures such as Labor Minister Niki Kerameos, Deputy Energy Minister Alexandra Sdoukou, MPs Stelios Petsas, Michalis Papadopoulos, Maria Antoniou, Stathis Konstantinidis, Theodoros Karaoglou, Stratos Simopoulos, Tasos Bartzokas, Marilena Soukouli, Maria-Alexandra Kefala, Xenophon Baraliakos, Prime Minister’s advisor Thanasis Nezis, and Elena Sokou, coordinator of the Prime Minister’s office in Thessaloniki.