Greece's Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, spoke about the fires and explained the conditions they faced in the previous 15 days.
The minister gave the press conference as an emergency about the forest fires affecting our country. Mr Kikilias had by his side the secretary general of the Academy of Athens, professor of Atmospheric Physics and Climatology Christos Zerefos, the chief of the Fire Brigade, Lieutenant General Georgios Pournaras, and the head of the General Directorate of Forests and Forest Environment of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, Evangelos Guduffa.
The minister began by saying that "after 15 days of extreme weather conditions and ten days with over 600 fires in the country, today is the first day that we are not in a state of alert, but in heightened readiness" he then referred to the two pilots who lost their lives while on duty in Karystos."
"Sacrifice and heroism are the characteristics of all those who fight fires. From the firefighters to the residents and volunteers," he said.
Then Kikilias said that 667 fires broke out in those days, more than 60 per day.
"The majority of them were arsons, either due to criminal negligence or intent," he said characteristically, adding, "The difference with other years was the weather conditions."
"The climate crisis that produced a historically unprecedented heat wave is here. In the last ten years, we have had a few days of extreme heat conditions combined with strong winds. Not since 2003 have we had a map with very high-risk categories for five days in many regions.
"The Fire Department brought the majority of all these areas under control. However, ten fires took on large proportions and tested the limits and endurance of everyone and above all of the residents."
At the same time, Vassilis Kikilias stated that 400,000 acres have been burned so far, while the annual average for Greece is 500,000.
"Far from us, the opinion that everything has been done correctly. We did the best we could under the circumstances. The degree of operational difficulty proved to be too great. We are not cowering; we are seeing reality head-on", he also said.
The minister noted that a fire overtook a 200-metre fire zone while fire tornadoes of 1,000 degrees Celsius were created.
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