KRYO PIGADI, Greece (AP) 鈥� Skimming over miles of west of Athens, Fire Lt. Col. Ioannis Kolovos readies his elite fire crew crouched inside a helicopter.
The 10-member group from the 1st Wildfire Special Operation Unit bristles with tools needed to hold back fires: chainsaws, specialized rakes, weather gauges, computer tablets and earth-scorching drip torches to burn wildfire barriers into the hillside.
Greece鈥檚 fire season officially starts May 1, but dozens of fires have already been put out over the past month after temperatures began hitting 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in late March 鈥� considerably higher than previous spikes recorded over the past decade.
鈥淚t鈥檚 actually already summer for us,鈥� Kolovos told The Associated Press during a recent training exercise. 鈥淭he truth is that the fire season has started prematurely and has been extended over the last five years.鈥�
This year, is doubling the number of firefighters in specialized units to some 1,300, and adopting tactics from the United States to with airborne units scrambled to build breaks in the predicted path of the flames.
Crew members include forestry experts and firefighters with varied skills, many in France, Spain and the United States.
鈥淲e can position ourselves in optimal locations that may be difficult to reach by foot and carry out fire suppression using various specialized methods,鈥� Firefighter Dimitris 鈥淛im鈥� Priftis said while assisting trainees in a region near the capital .
鈥淯sing water is no longer our main weapon against fires, it鈥檚 our tools,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are taking a more scientific approach toward fires, measuring the humidity, the wind 鈥� it鈥檚 a more planned method.鈥�
Mostly funded by the European Union, Greece has launched a 2.1 billion euro ($2.3 billion) program to overhaul its disaster response capability, ordering new water-dropping aircraft, drones, fire trucks, training facilities, and an artificial intelligence-driven sensor network to detect early signs of smoke and flooding.
But the new equipment won鈥檛 start arriving until 2025. Greek authorities are doubling down on training and new firefighting methods, with another tough season expected this year.
Fires burned an estimated 1,750 square kilometers (675 square miles) last year, including a blaze in northern Greece that was the .
Windy and mountainous with hard-to-reach islands, Greece faces a daunting annual challenge in defending multiple urban settlements that overlap with wooded areas at wildfire risk.
It鈥檚 also getting hotter: Last winter was the warmest since modern records began in 1960, according to the National Observatory of Athens, which analyzed European Union satellite data. The six warmest Greek winters on record have occurred in the past decade.
That鈥檚 against the backdrop of new data revealing that , its temperatures rising at roughly twice the global average.
Standing in the main disaster response command center in Athens, Vassilis Kikilias, the minister for climate crisis and civil protection, says authorities expect annual conditions to worsen further.
鈥淚t will be a very difficult fire season, a very difficult summer,鈥� Kikilias, a towering former pro basketball player, told the AP in an interview. 鈥淲e had a dry winter and fall temperatures lasting until December. So we鈥檙e facing the head on.鈥�
Throughout the month of April, firefighters stepped up exercises and training, using new facilities like the Fire Dragon, a 1.2 million euro ($1.3 million) trailer used to simulate the inside of a burning building. Fire crews with heavy protective gear and oxygen tanks use it to practice close-quarter techniques and rescues.
Close by, Fire Service regulars and trainees crawl through a mesh maze in darkness to practice working in confined spaces. Participants in full kit first workout on treadmill climbers and other gym machines, then crawl through the maze as strobe lights, smoke and loud noises are added to disorient them.
鈥淭he firefighting maze helps firefighters in a dark environment, in an unfamiliar setting, in the presence of fire, to enter the area, investigate, possibly carry out a rescue and find a way out,鈥� said Fire Lt. Col. Vrasidas Grafakos, a training center commander.
鈥淚t鈥檚 to train them effectively to be ready for building fires, for front-line activity.鈥�
Retiree Chrysoula Renieri was among those who lost their homes in the 2023 fires that , in northeastern Greece, and areas west of Athens.
Renieri visited her gutted house last week. As she walked through the blackened rooms, she described how her family felt helpless as the approaching fire cut off power and the water supply before the flames took over the house. 鈥淣o one helped us and everything burned. It鈥檚 all gone.鈥�
She said she hopes the Fire Service鈥檚 new equipment and methods might make a difference to others.
鈥淚 wish that would happen, so many homes could be saved,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e hope, because summer is coming again and the torment will begin.鈥�
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Theodora Tongas in Loutraki, Greece, contributed.
Derek Gatopoulos, The Associated Press
