Lakonia: forest fire at Kremasti, Evrotas

A fire broke out around midday on Thursday 20 August in a forest area at Kremasti, in the Municipality of Evrotas, Lakonia. According to Fire Service figures reported by SKAI, 35 firefighters attended the scene with two ground units of the 9th Special Forest Operations Unit and nine vehicles. Three aircraft and one helicopter were assigned to the aerial firefighting effort and made water drops over the front. The initial reports did not mention any injuries or any threat to an inhabited area, while the extent of the burnt land had not been announced.

The immediate assignment of four aircraft to a fire with a relatively limited ground force shows how the mechanism is working this year. When an area has been designated high risk, the aim is to check the front at the initial stage, before it has time to spread. Kremasti was on Thursday in category 3 of the Fire Risk Prediction Map, as was almost all of the Peloponnese, with the regional units of Argolis, Arcadia, Corinthia and Lakonia at the same level of risk. The ground units of the EMODE take on the cutting of firebreaks and the extinguishing of outbreaks at points vehicles cannot reach, while the aircraft limit the speed of spread until the ground deployment is complete.

The Municipality of Evrotas occupies the southern part of the valley of the river Evrotas and combines extensive olive groves and citrus crops with forest and scrub land on the flanks of Parnon and Taygetos. It is one of the most productive farming zones in Lakonia, where community incomes depend to a large extent on olive growing. A fire that passed from the forest area into the cultivated zones would have an immediate economic impact, since restoring an olive grove takes years. Over the same period the country is in a prolonged spell of high temperatures, which increases the dryness of the vegetation and accelerates the spread. The area’s morphology, alternating low hills, streams and farm tracks, allows relatively quick access for vehicles, but also rapid transmission of the flames when northerly winds blow. Residents of the surrounding communities followed the progress of the operation, since forest fires in the area usually break out around midday, when temperature and dryness are at their daily peak.

The Lakonia Investigative Unit for Arson Crimes was mobilised to investigate the causes of the fire and travelled to the area. Its conclusions will emerge once the firefighting operation is complete and will show whether this was negligence, a technical fault or deliberate action. The Fire Service has already made arrests over fires in recent days, among other places in Trikala and Karystos, while high risk remained in dozens of areas of the country on the same day. A further update on the progress of the front and on the final burnt area is expected from the Fire Service.