ATHENS: Greece will deploy the largest firefighting force in its history for a menacing fire season that has already seen over a thousand blazes break out, the prime minister said Thursday.
“For 2025, we have the largest number of men and women in the fire service,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during a visit to the civil protection ministry.
“We must be prepared for the worst possible scenario,” Mitsotakis said, as officials noted that over 1,300 fires had broken out in March, a time when Greek farmers traditionally burn leftover crops.
The prime minister’s office said over 18,000 firefighters would be available this year, “a number higher than ever before”.
Another 300 firefighters from five fellow European Union member countries will be permanently stationed in Greece this year, it added.
There will also be 3,700 fire engines and 80 surveillance drones.
Greece battled a spate of deadly wildfires last year, including a massive blaze that forced thousands to flee their homes and reached the suburbs of Athens before it was brought under control.
The fire season in Greece officially begins May 1, but the country has already had a dry winter and unseasonably high temperatures in mid-March.
