141
CONSTANTINE PORPHYROGENETUS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Journal of Management Sciences and
Regional Development
Issue 7, December 2011
http://www.stt.aegean.gr/geopolab/GEOPOL%20PROFILE.htm
ISSN 1107-9819
Editor-in-Chief: John Karkazis (ikarkazis@aegean.gr)
FIRES IN GREECE. CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND
MEASURES FOR THE ECOSYSTEMS PROTECTION
Agisilaos Economou
PhD National Technical University of Athens (N.T.U.A.),
Environmentalist
Nikaias 18, 17122, Athens, Greece,
email: aghs@mail.ntua.gr
Abstract. Fires are one of the biggest global problems, as they are responsible for the
disruption of the planet’s ecosystems. The paper focuses on Greece and investigates the main
causes and consequences of forest fires over the past years, as well as the fire prevention
measures and policies that have been implemented in the past at local, regional and national
levels. Large fires in recent years and their disastrous consequences have shown that an
integrated management policy on forest fires, as well as an improvement on old methods and
the development of new ones are needed. Furthermore, climate change coupled with the
blatant transformation of forest areas into rural areas emphasizes the urgency for immediate
action. This paper studies the current policy framework and suggests ways to improve it.
Keywords: protection policies, fires in Greece, environmental protection
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1. INTRODUCTION
The more recent reports of the EU Community Mechanism for Civil Protection point
to a large increase in the number, severity and intensity of natural phenomena and
man-made disasters resulting in loss of human lives and property, and having
catastrophic consequences on social and economic infrastructure, cultural heritage
and on the environment (European Union, 2007).
One of the main causes is forest fires, responsible to a large extent of environmental
disasters, regionally as well as globally. The worst effect of forest fires is the
reduction of vegetation cover, which means an increase of the greenhouse effect,
resulting in climate change. In addition to this, the decline in vegetation leads to a
decline in plants that ensure the capture of carbon dioxide, as well as to a further
increase of soil erosion and biodiversity destruction of flora and fauna. In the case of
large forest fires (1000 – 1200 °C) the problems are even greater as will be explained
below.
The current research conducted in Greece, studies the effect of forest fires on land
properties (Seilopoulos, 1991), the assessment of forest fires in Crete during the
period 1974-1989 (Nanos, 1995) and methods for confronting fires, such as the
electrochemical methods for assessing chemical flame in forest fires (Gakis, 1998).
Other studies are related to the management of forest areas using Geographical
Information Systems (G.I.S.) and other tracking devices.
Besides the ecological impact, forest fires cause direct damage to housing and
infrastructure networks (electricity and telecommunications), loss of life, and
destruction of agricultural land with tree crops (Xanthopoulos, 1988). This also
implies substantial negative effects on the economy of agriculture causing loss of
income due to the destruction of fruit trees, olives trees, grain and other crops, as well
as loss of livestock and land for grazing.
Another major problem is a sharp increase in the risk of flooding in large forest areas
that have burnt to ashes. Moreover, large fires have a negative effect on areas that rely
on tourism.
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The present paper, after this brief introduction, is organized as follows: Section 2
looks at the main causes of fires in Greece as well as at their consequences. An
outline of the consequences of fires in other European countries is also given. Section
3 presents the existing policy framework for fire protection in both Europe and
Greece, and finally Section 4 summarizes the conclusions and makes suggestions on
how to improve the existing policy framework in Greece.
2. FOREST FIRES: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
2.1 Causes
The main causes of forest fires are natural occurrences as well as human activities.
The main natural causes are lightning, heat waves, droughts and volcanic eruptions.
The main human causes are negligence, accident and arson.
Negligence includes campfires, lighted cigarette butts, army shot, actions of mentally
ill persons, short circuits in the National Board of Electricity wire infrastructure,
sparks from trains and others.
Accidents include destructions of gas storage or gas station, destruction of
transmission lines or of electric power stations, landfills (biogas), road or rail
accidents, and airplane crashes in forest areas.
Arson has a number of reasons, a common one being the destruction of forest areas in
order to obtain building licence for residential areas. Other reasons include lack of
information regarding the residents of a specific area, and insufficient police
surveillance during the summer months.
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TABLE 1. Causes of fires in Greece (%). (MRDF, 2000)
Causes of forest fires
Arson
Reckless
Lightning
Army firing
Machines
Explosives
Short circuits
Visitors
Unknown cause
Total number of fires
Years
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
%
29,15
17,14
4,98
0,87
0,79
0,47
1,42
2,21
42,97
1266
21,44
20,39
2,58
0,63
1,21
0,68
0,74
2,21
50,11
1898
26,17
17,06
3,74
0,47
0,08
0,47
0,70
1,71
49,61
1284
25,49
18,76
3,33
0,53
0,61
0,15
1,74
1,36
48,03
1322
26,03
20,56
1,73
0,19
0,67
0,19
1,54
2,59
46,49
1041
17,38
20,96
2,99
0,59
0,69
0,24
0,78
1,86
54,51
2042
12,09
20,53
2,54
0,50
0,54
0,25
0,54
1,29
61,72
2406
17,30
19,06
4,76
1,42
0,91
0,23
1,02
2,16
53,15
1763
16,06
15,86
5,15
0,76
0,42
0,42
0,97
0,83
59,53
1438
12,19
16,43
4,63
0,78
1,24
0,00
1,69
0,00
63,04
1534
16,41
21,65
2,38
0,66
0,92
0,00
1,32
0,53
56,14
2273
Table 1 presents the main causes of fires in Greece over the period 1987-1997. As we
can see “Unknown cause” displays the highest percentage and this is followed by
negligence and arson.
2.2 Consequences
Fires put in danger the lives, health and wealth of residents, as well as the country’s
products, material and cultural goods (OJHR, 2003).
Forest fires in particular are the worst because they endanger not only the area where
the fire happens but further increase the ecological imbalance. The main
consequences are gradual desertification of the burnt area, reduction in the
biodiversity of forest ecosystems, material damages (such as damaged buildings and
network constructions), loss of human life and injuries to residents, as well as a
negative impact on visitors and the residents of the affected area.
Greece, a country with a rich flora and fauna, is often confronted to the phenomena of
fire and forest fires which are the most dangerous ones because not only do they
threaten human lives and property but also nature itself and the quality of the air we
breathe.
145
The frequency of forest fires in Greece is presented in Figure 1. The statistical data
show a large number of fires every year, with the exception of the year 2002.
3000
Number of fires
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
2005
2006
2007
2008
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1980
1981
1982
1983
0
Year
Fires
FIGURE 1. Frequency of forest fires in Greece during the time period 1980 –
2008, (European Commission, 2009a)
According to the statistical data of Forest Services, the fires in Greece during the
period 1980 – 2008 have destroyed 1,468,064.79 hectares of forest and non forest
areas. The burnt areas per year, during this period, are presented in Figure 2.
146
300000
250000
Area (ha)
200000
150000
100000
50000
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
0
Year
Burnt areas
FIGURE 2. Burned areas during the period 1980 – 2008, (European
Commission, 2009a)
Figure 2 shows the large areas burnt by fires in forest and rural areas and the resulting
negative impact on natural and human environment. Statistical data also show low
rates of burnt areas during the period 2002-2006 compared to higher rates for 2000
and 2007.
Similar devastating fires have also hit other European countries. According to the data
published by the European Information Systems for Forest Fires (EFFIS), up to early
August 2009 approximately 2,000,000 acres of land in the European Union had been
burnt to ashes, this compared to 1,800,000 acres in 2008. The most affected countries,
besides Greece, were Spain, Italy, France and Portugal (Figure 3) (European
Commission, 2009)
147
500000
450000
400000
Area (ha)
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
0
Year
Portugal
Spain
France
Italy
Greece
FIGURE 3. Burnt area during the period time 1980 – 2008 in South Europe.
Typical examples of large fires in Greece were the ones that devastated the
Peloponnese and the island of Evia in August 2007 resulting in 70 dead and 1.5
million acres of burnt land. Moreover, the fires brought damages to homes, network
infrastructure (electricity, telecommunications), crops (seeds, fruit trees, animal loss
and destruction of flora and fauna).
Data published by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection for the year 2009
indicate that forest fires show a sharp increase in August, resulting in the loss of
approximately 130,000 olive trees, 700 acres of vineyards, 800 goats, 750 swarms of
bees, 40 cattle and 10 pigs as well as damages to 132 sheepfolds and 100 stable sheds
(www.minagric.gr). The largest fires broke out in the Attica region, and caused the
destruction of the natural environment in an area of 133,336 acres (forest, combined
forest and rural areas) (www.gscp.gr).
At this point it would be an omission not to report that fire forest destruction may
have positive effects such as a natural regeneration of the soil in the affected areas.
Despite fire protection and suppression measures, the large 2007 fires in the
Peloponnese as well as the more recent ones of August 2009 in Attica make it more
148
than clear that new methods, as well as an improvement of existing measures, are
required.
Table 2 shows the geographical distribution of burnt areas in Greece.
TABLE 2. Burnt areas (Forest & forest areas) in Greece during the period 2000-2009,
(http://www.fireservice.gr).
Burn area (Forest & forest area) (ha)
Regions
Attica
Eastern
Macedonia Thrace
Central
Macedonia
Western
Macedonia
Epirus
Thessaly
Western
Greece
Peloponnese
Central
Greece
South
Aegean
North
Aegean
Crete
Ionian
Islands
Total
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2.531,15
5.197,29
271,12
2.203,25
173,21
54,37
240,98
158,47
557,47
146,12
780,76
94,88
161,64
102,07
2.623,81
967,36
603,37
930,93
10.097,00
1.602,95
1.218,33
570,33
39,26
37,09
159,73
62,00
30,58
809,13
870,09
62,89
2.300,45
1.525,82
49,62
19,59
173,57
115,85
32,60
3.911,50
186,60
11,20
9.238,53
15.457,50
1.378,51
232,10
690,52
416,86
240,59
106,82
150,88
232,44
28,30
357,68
148,36
204,52
397,68
523,37
116,48
306,64
125,08
193,72
405,24
1.200,72
3.326,44
77.972,46
724,09
593,38
691,73
91,69
340,23
221,82
18.658,27
14.757,22
1.699,57
2.358,97
397,90
225,40
537,12
541,78
780,49
728,62
711,87
601,59
2.742,28
813,48
40.492,80
13.262,68
3.338,13
1.847,79
691,17
6.247,55
397,88
7,90
208,87
34,70
583,05
58,70
46,47
75,53
10.842,63
42,01
15.753,13
306,23
76,74
78,37
49,22
47,84
357,11
370,37
104,15
86,05
129,08
726,42
105,39
438,12
166,37
81,79
216,52
218,17
179,48
331,03
180,18
327,09
72,93
608,14
528,88
2.875,98
971,63
971,63
257,40
1.338,47
87.743,76
10.826,18
1.971,82
2.701,21
4.439,34
3.927,25
5.691,34
148.417,66
22.676,15
21.090,43
According to the data available (Table 2), large areas of forest were burnt in the years
2000, 2007, 2008 and 2009. The more affected areas were regions in Western Greece,
the Peloponnese and central Greece in 2007. These are followed by regions in the
North Aegean, Thessaly and Central Greece in 2000, the South Aegean in 2008 and
the Athens region in 2009.
3. A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR PROTECTION AGAINST FIRE
3.1 Europe
In cases of major natural disasters caused by fires, the Member States may apply for
the mobilization of the European Union’s Fund.
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To deal more effectively with natural disasters caused by fires, the EU has reached a
decision for the improvement of mutual assistance between EU Member States,
(European Commission, 1991) according to which all EU Member States assist those
Member States that have declared a state of emergency due to large fires.
Member States are increasingly using the criterion of extreme regional disaster. In the
case of forest fires, the condition of “at least half the population of the region is
affected” is rarely met.
On the other hand, in the applications submitted by France and Spain because of
forest fires during the summer, only the fire in Spain met the “neighbouring country”
criterion because it was considered to have been caused by a major destruction in
Portugal which is a neighbouring country. Thus, an amount of 1.331 million euro for
the losses caused by forest fires was given to Spain (European Commission, 2005).
The European Commission has approved funding new projects for the LIFE + (20072013) programme on Nature and Biodiversity, Environmental Policy and Governance,
Information and Communication, which comes to a total of 431 million Euros. These
programmes include projects for forest management and the restoration of damages
caused by fires on natural ecosystems (European Commission, 2009b).
One such programme of fire restoration is the Methodology for Mediterranean Forest
- Environmental Safety & Sustainability of 4 interventions in the Rhodes Natura 2000
Site project (European Commission, 2008).
The European Information System for Forest Fires provides fire hazard forecast maps.
Thus, civil protection and fire-fighting services of the Member States can take
preventive measures thanks to timely warnings on the event of a forest fire. In
addition, the European System of Forest Fires Damage Assessment (EFFDA)
provides information to identify assistance support needs.
According to the Committee’s directive E 6464 (2007), the State Members of the
European Union are obliged to appoint civil protection units. Regarding the aerial
confrontation of forest fires, the State Members have the obligation to create airborne
150
units and have at their disposal three helicopters with a thousand litres capacity each
and two airplanes with 3,000 litres capacity each. The establishment of a medical air
unit for removal / evacuation of disaster victims with a capacity for 50 patients per 24
hours is also required (MI, 2008).
3.2 Greece
A policy on how to deal with fires in Greece is included in the National Civil
Protection Programme which emphasizes the protection of life, health and property of
citizens and the environment (www.gscp.gr). In this way the State takes measures to
minimize the consequences of disasters. For this reason, prevention programmes are
designed according to risk category as are the measures and action plans taken in case
of fire. In addition to this, public services are implemented at local, regional and
national levels (OJHR, 2002).
An important factor in confronting forest fires is the fire protection system of each
area and the existence of a strategic firefighting plan defining what means will be
used to suppress the fire and where. Direct fire suppression measures involve mainly
the use of land and air resources, the use of fire retardant substances which reduce the
flammability of fuel and work as firebreaks. Nowadays, aerial fire fighting resources
are also being used, such as the Russian Helicopter MI-26TP, which is able to haul 15
tons of water and the Canadian aircraft Canadair CL-415 with a capacity of 6 tons of
water.
Information and awareness campaigns are also important in helping the public take
self-protection measures and assist the firemen’s work.
Of course, many factors can complicate the firemen’s work, such as climate
conditions (high winds, heat waves, and droughts), the fact that many fires break out
in areas that are far-flung and not easily accessible (especially in the case of arsons),
the size and intensity of the fire, the type of vegetation and so on.
Many services and government agencies are involved in organizing firefighting
services. The main ministries involved in the confrontation of forest fires are the
151
Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry for Civil Protection
as well as the Local and Regional Authorities (MRDF, 2006). The main responsibility
lies with the Ministry for Civil Protection via the Fire Brigade Services, in other
words the headquarters of the Fire Brigade Department, which is one of the agencies
that come under the Ministry for Civil Protection. In addition, the services of the Fire
Brigade Department are responsible for working out, implementing and enforcing
measures to fight fires, whereas the Forest Services are responsible for planning and
implementing measures to prevent forest fires (OJHR, 1999).
Measures taken after a forest fire include:

Economic relief brought to the affected population (compensation). For
example, in August 2006 an Emergency Measure was adopted by the European
Union for fire indemnities over the period March 2003 to December 2005. It
amounted to a total of 22 million Euros (MI, 2006).

Construction of flood protection works. In March 2009 a EU Ministerial
Decision was signed on flood projects, corrosion and reforestation projects
totalling 135 millions euro, giving priority to rehabilitation of areas affected by
the fires of the summer in 2007 (MI, 2009).

List of burnt areas as reforestation areas.

Aerial photography of the burnt areas in order to protect them from trespassers
(building, grazing).

Various actions to awaken the public’s awareness for the need of environment
protection and means to confront fire situations.
4. CONCLUSIONS – PROPOSED POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR
FIRE PROTECTION IN GREECE
The large fires discussed in this paper have made the public aware of the danger and
responsible government agencies have been urged to take drastic measures for the
prevention and suppression of fires.
It is well-known that prevention is essential in the case of forest fires and for this
reason, study and continuous improvement of further actions are required.
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Consequently direct EU assistance using land and aerial resources for all its State
Members facing such large-fire problems should be made available.
The purchase of large capacity (15000 lt) helicopters by the EU and their use by
Member States will be of significant help in the suppression of large fires.
Furthermore, an agreement with countries outside the European Union for direct
action and use of, mainly, airborne fire fighting is required. In this way a country that
is not actually having fire problems over a period of time, could put its firefighting
resources at the disposal of other countries.
It must be emphasised that the best prevention measure is the direct application of
firebreaks throughout the country. For instance the creation of vegetation zones that
burn with difficultly can have a leading role ensuring on the one hand continuity in
the vegetation coverage, and on the other hand helping protect the area from fire
expansion in case of a forest fire.
Surveillance of forests during the summer should be intensified during periods of
strong winds. The co-ordination of the entire Ministry for Civil Protection services
with satellite systems and with the Geographic Information Systems for the
immediate detection of fires can benefit a timely intervention on the part of fire
fighting brigades.
Immediate registration of the affected forest land and reforestation of burnt forest
areas are essential. The areas that have been affected by large fires are in need of
immediate measures to protect them and ensure their revival and further development.
Creating a nursery for forest vegetation in each municipal district will help bring a
timely restoration of the burnt areas.
The removal of dry grass from forest areas and agricultural crops is another measure
that must be implemented.
To sum up, we conclude that the large fires in recent years have shown that a restructuring of the fire-protection policy and a need for more drastic measures are
153
required. Taking into account that forests contribute to the reduction of the
greenhouse effect and enhance the quality of life, we conclude that not only the State
but every individual citizen should take an active part in the preservation and
protection of forest ecosystems.
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