Greece hopes to avoid a repeat of the catastrophic fires of 2021. Credit: Konstantinos Balalas/Greek ReporterGreece is bracing for the fire season hoping to avoid a repeat of 2021 when it was hit by some of the most devastating fires in recent history in the Northern part of Evia Island and Western Attica.
The new fire season started on May 1 and it will last until October 31. The New Democracy government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which in 2021 admitted there were shortcomings in dealing with hundreds of fires spontaneously across the country, is stepping up preparations.
Omens not good: Big increase in fires over the first three months
There has already been a marked increase in the number of forest fires in Greece in the first three months of 2022, the National Observatory of Athens said in April.
According to an analysis by the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), forest fires in Greece this year have amounted to a 750 percent average increase compared to the number of blazes recorded in the same time span in the period of 2008 to 2021.
