Only 6 municipalities (out of 66 in Attica) and one forest protection association sent a fire protection plan for their territory by July 20, during the height of the fire season and at a time when the law affects several fire fronts.
According to Grigoris Zafeiropoulos, secretary of the Decentralized Administration of Attica, these plans, which are also submitted to the General Secretariat of Civil Defense, provide the competent authorities with an idea of the position of each municipality in terms of fire protection, as well as how it disposes of the relevant funds.
This year, the total amount allocated from the central autonomous funds to the municipalities of the country and municipal associations for preventive fire fighting activities has been increased and reached 25 million euros compared to 18.4 million euros in 2022. The approval of this decision was signed at the end of March, and in April all municipalities received the appropriate allocations. It should be noted that each municipality receives a different amount depending on the area of green space and needs.
Document dated June 8
Since the municipalities of Attica had not sent their respective plans by the beginning of the month, on June 8, the Local Government Grants Department of the General Directorate of Finance and Local Government Development Policy of the Ministry of the Interior sent a document entitled: “Fire prevention measures for 2023”which says the following: “Given that the fire season of the current year has begun, we draw your attention and ask you to speed up and complete the work and activities aimed at protecting the life and property of citizens, infrastructure and the natural environment from the occurrence of forest fires. In addition, we remind you that before taking fire-fighting measures, you must consult with the fire and forest services, and you should immediately notify the relevant departments of decentralized administrations and the General Secretariat of Civil Defense about the relevant projects / activities.”
Ten municipalities that did not clean up the reporting territory
About a month later, on July 3, the Minister of Civil Protection and Climate Crises, Vassilis Kikilias, is holding a meeting in Civil Protection with the participation of 25 mayors whose areas are considered vulnerable and prone to large-scale fires in northern, western and south/southeast Attica.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Interior Minister Thodoris Livanios, Deputy Minister for Climate Change and Civil Protection Evangelos Tournas, Secretary General for Forests Konstantinos Aravosis and Fire Chief George Pournaras. At this meeting, the mayors were asked what exactly they had done in the area of cleaning their territories from dry grass and other available fuels.
The minister already had an idea of what was happening in specific areas of Attica based on reports from the civil defense and fire departments, and it turned out that at least 10 out of 25 municipalities are at a low level in this part. According to media reports, the top ten mayors who accepted the minister’s recommendations include:
- Ωρωπού
- Μάνδρας- Ειδυλλίας
- Διονύσου
- Αχαρνών
- Κηφισιάς
- Βύρωνα
- Σαρωνικού
- Λαυρεωτικής
- Φυλής
- Ραφήνας-Πικερμίου
It is noted that the amount of flammable substances in urban and suburban areas is quite high. As fire meteorologist and National Observatory of Athens Specialist Theodoris M. Giannaros told the media a few days ago: “Of the three factors that determine the behavior and spread of a fire (weather, topography, firewood), dry wood and needles are the only ones that can be controlled by a person. Especially in areas of mixing, i.e. where the urban environment is “mixed” with natural / forest, it is extremely important to take preventive measures to remove / manage flammable substances in order to reduce the risk of starting and spreading fires.
Delays in disbursement
On July 19, two days after the fires broke out in the areas of the municipalities of Saronicus and Lavreotiki, and one day after the start of the fire in Mandra, the Ministry of the Interior (Department of Decentralized Government of Attica / Department of Supervision of Local Authorities) sends a new notification marked “Urgent” to the local authorities of the first level – the mayor’s offices, which states the following:
“We ask you to immediately forward to the Department of Supervision of Local Government of the Decentralized Administration of Attica the decision on the allocation of allocations for ΚΑΠ for 2023 to your municipality and the degree of its implementation to date, and following the previous ones, send us data / documents on the actions for the development of these funds no later than Friday 07/21/2023.”
According to Mr. Zafeiropoulos, from June 8 to July 20, the fire prevention plan was sent by the municipalities of Metamorphosis, Kropia, Spata – Artemis, Elefsina, Aspropyrgos, Poros, Glyfada, as well as ΣΠΑΠ – Association of Municipalities for the Protection and Restoration of Pendeli and SYN.PA (Association of Municipalities and Communities for the Protection of Parnita). On Friday, July 21, the following municipalities sent their action plan: Agia Varvara, Agia Paraskevi, Aigaleo, Amarousiou, Aspropyrgos, Acharnon, Vari – Voula – Vouliagmeni, Galatsiou, Daphni, Imittos, Dionysos, Elefsis, Elliniko – Argyroupolis, Ilioupoli, Heraklion, Ilion, Kallithea, Krolithea, Crotea, Kitira, Marathon, Metamorphosis, Markopoulou, Moschatos, Nea Ionia, Nea Philadelphia – Chalcedon, Nikaya – Ag.Ioannou Renti, Peania – Glycon Neros, Paleo Faliro, Penteli, Perama, Peristeri, Petroipolis, Pefki – Likovrisi, Rafina – Pikermio, Philotea – Psychiko, Fili, Holargos – Papa gos and Oropa.
In an interview with Kathimerini, Mr. Zafeiropoulos noted that the second notice asks the mayors to include in their report the actions included in the overall fire protection plan and covered by the expenses of the municipalities, outside the funds of the Ministry of the Interior.
Characteristic of the slow pace of uptake and information on the use of these funds is that in the municipality of Saronicus, in which about 20,000 acres of land burned as a result of a fire that broke out on Monday 17 July, the receipt and distribution of funds in the amount of 180,000 euros were held on 12 July 2023 at the 18th meeting of the economic committee of the municipality, in total seven days before a major fire broke out in the area.
“Please immediately forward to the Department of Supervision of Local Government of the Decentralized Administration of Attica the decision on the allocation of CAP allocations for 2023 to your municipality and the degree of its implementation to date, and following the previous ones, send us data / documents on the actions to disburse these funds no later than Friday 07/21/2023.”
Hera Theophilou, a resident of Anavyssos and a volunteer for environmental organizations active in the area, such as the Ornithological Society, believes that the cleanup has been delayed in the municipality of Saronicos. “There are still many flammable objects here, many places unsafe for making fires. Some residents are punctual with their sites, others are not. The municipality is trying, but nothing is working,” she emphasizes.
The mayors, in turn, respond that the budget allocated by the Ministry of the Interior is meager and only enough for a few activities in the responsible part of fire protection. As Dimitris Loukas, the mayor of Lavreotiki, who also witnessed the fire at his sites, told us, his municipality received 180,000 euros this year compared to 89,000 euros last year, but “I need 250,000 euros just for the salaries of 60 or so employees – drivers and crews hired for 5 months to service the 15 fire engines of the municipality.” He noted that the municipality of Lavreotiki allocated 370,000 euros this year for the cleanup and deforestation of land.
He also noted that there is a big problem, especially in terms of cleaning fuel on private land. “Half of the owners are responding. The other half are not. We are forcing the latter to enter their homes this year. We carried out such a “cleaning” last year and the year before. But few people pay the fines that come to them through ΑΑΔΕ,” he said.
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