With one of the most destructive fires since 2001 for Corinthia, the residents of Xylokastro Corinthia were faced last week. Two young men lost their lives while more than 70,000 hectares were burnt, mainly agricultural crops and mostly olives. Less than a month before the end of the fire protection season, scientists and experts conclude that October 31 is no longer a “typical” end date, but a period in which a large number of fires occur, which can turn out to be extremely dangerous and fatal.
Something which so far is confirmed by the data as this year’s number of fires in September is higher than last year. Specifically, according to September 2024 there were 733 fires while in the same month last year, 658 had broken out. At the same time, yesterday’s fires in Ilia, and especially the one in Geraki, strengthen the argument for a long fire prevention period, not only “on paper” anymore. It is worth noting that according to data from the Fire Department, Mr In October 2023, 840 fires occurred.
“Never has such a large fire appeared so late. The anti-fire season on paper exists, it lasts a long time, but in reality we see that the meteorological conditions can create very difficult situations even in periods at the beginning and at the end of the anti-fire season”, points out to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, the research director of IEPVA/EAA, Dr. Kostas Lagouvardos, while noting that the fire in Corinthia was the second largest forest fire this year after the one that occurred in August in Attica, adding that we are heading towards the average of burned areas of the last 20 years.
“In 2000 we had the biggest fire in the area. In fact, it is the largest since 2001. 2000 was the largest previous fire in Corinth. And with these amounts, as I see in the system, we will reach approximately the average of the burnt areas of the last 20 years”he says characteristically.
“Even though we were in the fire protection season, we all had the feeling that towards the end of it, that is, from September onwards, the risk of fires drops a lot. Unfortunately, this is not true. And the paradox is that in May 2021, the largest early fire has appeared in the area. Coincidence probably, but I will tell you that even then it was the biggest fire that happened so early, in May, and now again in the same prefecture the same thing happens at the end of September”emphasizes Mr. Lagouvardos.
The AUTH professor, director of the Forestry Management and Remote Sensing laboratory, Ioannis Gitas, is moving in the same direction, stressing that we are “a longer fire season”. “Traditionally we’ve had fires in September and October, but here we’re seeing a big fire in an ecosystem that previously didn’t catch fire at this time.”Mr. Gitas underlines in APE-MPE and adds that based on this element, which has been observed, the fire protection design that is made should also include a longer period of fire protection.
“As a result, it seems that the fire season has changed. Therefore, it is important for the state to realize this in time and based on this new situation to create the new fire prevention plan to start earlier and end later than what has been in force until now”. notes.
Fire officials, however, emphasize that the risk of fire during the fire season is high until the last day while pointing out that even after the fire season when conditions are favorable we can have tragic events.
What worries many scientists, however, is the effects that the prolonged fire season has on the fatigue of firefighting personnel.
“There are also impacts on our preparation and staff fatigue,” Mr. Lagouvardos emphasizes to APE-MPE and adds that it is different to have accumulated incidents within two months, especially in the summer, and it is different to have “they start quite early and finish late.”
«There is the issue of having staff, keeping them busy and alert for a long period of time. They have to take this into account, how they distribute the staff, with the recruitments, the seasonal ones, the preparation, so that we are now in a phase where we have a longer fire fighting period, which can possibly coincide with other events as well. There seems to be a change as we said in both the duration of wildfires and the extension of the season. Due to climate change this is expected to continue, not decrease. As we go to warmer temperatures, in the coming decades, longer periods of drought this problem will get worse »Mr. Lagouvardos points out.
For his part, Mr. Gitas raises the question of the specialized knowledge required to manage a fire in the forest.
«International experience has proven that firefighters who deal exclusively with the forest clearly have a better knowledge of how to move in the forest to extinguish a forest fire. The urban fabric is one thing and the forest is another. Other expertise is needed. It’s not the same thing. All the services in Europe have forest firefighters who are specialized precisely in putting out fires in the forest.” Mr. Gitas notes to APE-MPE and adds that specialized knowledge is needed, while it is important in planning to take into account the direction and speed of the wind.
«Wind speed, slope are key parameters that one will need to know in order to make a strategic plan to deal with a fire”he points out.
The conditions that prevailed on the day of the fire in Rozena Xylokastro
On September 29, the day on which the fire started in Rosena Xylokastro of Corinthia, the fire danger index in the regional Unit of Corinthia was danger category 4 (orange), while as Mr. Lagouvardos explains, strong winds were blowing in the area. “The conditions were bad in terms of wind, meaning the temperatures were not particularly high, the danger was increased by strong winds. In those cases where you have a strong westerly current, which was created inside the Corinthian, you have a very significant boost in its exit. That is, in a channel when we have westerly winds they are greatly strengthened inside this channel and especially towards its exit.
So yes, we had a very strong channeling that we certainly see quite often in the area. That is, these winds are classic in the area. These winds are also observed in summer and other seasons. They appear all the time. We already had the knowledge from the previous days that on Sunday in this region we will have very strong westerly winds, especially in the region of eastern Corinthia, therefore in Corinth and western Attica”, notes Mr. Lagouvardos.
In addition, he points out that the region has been characterized by a very intense drought in the last two years. “The rains are very limited as in other areas of the Eastern Peloponnese, because the areas with the greatest drought are Attica, the Eastern Peloponnese and Corinth and then the islands, i.e. the Cyclades, eastern Crete and the Dodecanese. In the area of Corinth the limited rainfall has been observed for a long time,” he emphasizes.
At the same time, the relief of the area seems to have made the work of the fire brigade even more difficult, as the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, said, as these areas are characterized by very large ravines, streams and very high mountain peaks. This fact made it difficult for the fire engines that arrived at the scene to approach the scene as, as the minister said, while the first Fire Department patrol car arrived immediately and immediately after, a water tanker could not pass through the dirt road. For this reason, the assistance of a municipal bulldozer was needed to open the road “and for 29-30 fire engines to arrive, which had already arrived in the field”, as noted by Mr. Kikilias.
The cause of the fire in Rozena Xylokastro is being investigated
Controversy, however, prevails about the cause of the start of this particular fire. The Arson Crime Squad is gathering evidence throughout this time to determine whether the fire was caused by human negligence.
“Nature does not give itself to human negligence”, claim competent officials.
In fact, investigating officers of the DAEE imposed an administrative fine of 3000 euros on a man who smoked bees on the day of the fire in Rozena Xilokastro, close to where the fire started and during the same period of time. The reason for the fine was that the man was carrying out the specified work on a day when the danger index in the area was level 4.
With the above data, the Directorate for Combating Arson Crimes (DAEE), collects the necessary evidence for their transmission to the competent judicial authorities in order to investigate criminal responsibilities in relation to the occurrence of the fire, according to a statement from the Fire Department.
Source: www.enikos.gr
