Amid wildfires raging in Greece that exposed for one more time the shortcomings of the government in terms of firefighting, fires precaution, equipment, aerial means and personnel shortages, an MP of ruling New Democracy challenged those battling against the many blazes and the fire victims who lost everything by blaming the “shortage of volunteers firefighters.
“The problem with the fires is not the equipment or the personnel, but the lack of volunteers,” said Sofia Voultepsi during a live appearance on a TV panel on Wednesday.
“I believe that, as the situation is, instead of making laws that say, ‘he will have the uniform, he will have this, he will have that,’ we should fight to increase the number of volunteers because they will help, because we see that where there are patrols, things are easier,” Voultepsi claimed.
Loyal to the popular “strategy” of New Democracy to approach controversial issues by comparing Greece with other countries, she claimed that in Germany, for example, approximately 90% of firefighters were volunteers.
Voultepsi’s provocative statement triggered an outrage among opposition parties, Greeks on social media lashed out at her and the most angry respond came from “the seasonal firefighters.”
“Mrs. Voultepsi would be better off to not speak at this time when thousands of firefighters and citizens are battling the fires. She should sit under her A/C and drink her coffee. People are losing their homes, firefighters are traveling sleeplessly across the country to the front lines, families are in anguish. Stop the nonsense, it’s not all communication politics.”
It should be noted that seasonal firefighters work from May 1st to October 31st and in winter they receive unemployment benefits only for three months.
Opposition reactions
“As if it wasn’t enough for the fire department and the fire victims that they were left helpless, they also have Mrs. Voultepsi appearing on TVe channels and angering them even more,” the spokesman of SYRIZA said in a post on social media.
“We say it is a continuous crime and the government must finally stop hiding behind extreme weather phenomena,” said an MP from KKE.
“The only thing the prime minister is coordinating properly and professionally is the installation of wind turbines in burnt areas. The examples are endless,” said Kyriakos Velopoulos, president of Greek Solution.
“The country needs oxygen and it cannot have this oxygen as long as the government of scorched earth, the Mitsotakis government, is in its place,” said Alexis Charitsis, president of New Left.
Volunteers
Beginning of the fire season, the government heralded that this year “we have 18,000 firefighters – the most ever – plus 1,500 forest rangers.” but it surely did not know how many volunteers are available,
Regarding the “the value of volunteerism and volunteers for the prevention and response to fires” as Voultespi said quoting a report by a German professor I can only say this:
Many of us recalled the case of a volunteer firefighter, who was helping out in the big Varibobi wildfire, NW Athens, in August 2021. He was falsely accused as a “suspect” by a local resident. He was arrested. The witness later withdrew her accusations. But he stayed in custody for 11 months – until he had a trial where he was acquitted.
PS if the Greek government – any government! – does not treat volunteers with respect or grants them incentives such as permission to leave work immediately, there is no chance that the volunteer movement will grow in the country or will ever replace professional fire-fighters for which the neo-liberal Mitsotakis government do not want to spend one euro.
Money there is only for ND best friends though EU funds via the Greek distributor OPEKEPE…
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We have the same problem here in Canada – too many fires, not enough firefighters. In Ontario, the head of the government is Conservative. And we know that Conservative governments like to “cut” spending (don’t talk to me about the amount of money that has been wasted and overspent!), so they cut the wildfire budget by 67%! Northern Ontario is burning, not enough firefighters or equipment. Thousands of people displaced. All of Canada is burning and we are asking for help from other places. But the Premier (head of Ontario) is wondering why this is so! The Minister of Emergency preparedness and response (yes, real title) has said nothing and is nowhere to be seen. Must be at her cottage. These guys are clowns and yet they RE-ELECTED in February for the 3rd time with a LARGER majority! https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/interactive-map?zoom=1¢er=78935.78742658359%2C935237.7353070999&month=08&day=13&year=2025#iMap
All the Firefighters are fantastic ,
This needed to be said.
Yeah…just ask people from California what happens when you cut down on professionals. Guess policemen should go too, then doctors and nurses… Never in my life I have seen so many completelly clueless politicians in any country like it is the case in last 10 years. They will ruin EVERYTHING
I admire the firefighters in Greece and have great respect for them.
But I think there are simply too few people for these unimaginable disasters.
Here in Austria, with few exceptions, fire and disaster fighting is carried out by volunteers, and our fire departments are very well equipped.
(During the flood disaster last year, very well-coordinated volunteers from other parts of Austria came to help.)
Perhaps a combination of professional firefighters and volunteers would also make sense for Greece.
kind regards
Gerhard
Yes, in Germany many firefighters are volunteers and it works well. But in Germany we do not have devastating wildfires every summer (yet). Wildfires in Germany are rare (though that might change with the climate) and most situations are building fires.
Where does ND find these loonies? A professional fire service, assisted by volunteers, is now more important than ever before!
The service that should not be remunerated is members of parliament. This should consist of volunteers (no training needed, as no skills tequired) and a salary for those who prove that they have no income source.
Well on that basis maybe the MP should give up her salary and perks and become a “volunteer”policitcian. Volunteer politicians could not be any more useless than professional ones as they have zero traingin and usually no skill other than talking. Firefighters on the other hand have to know what they are doing and be prepaored to risk their lives to save others, somthing which no politician in recorded history has ever done!
Well,Mrs. Voultepsis, perhaps you would like to volunteer as a frontline fire fighter. But, then again no as there is enough hot air about . You make fatuous statements without understanding one iota about the real job of a firefighter. We need more permanent staff as well as volunteers and some serious investment in all areas.