Greece’s Civil Protection rates Crete at “very high” wildfire risk for Friday
Greece’s General Secretariat for Civil Protection has rated Crete at category 4, “very high,” wildfire risk for Friday, September 4, according to the daily fire-risk map the agency issues under the Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reconstruction.
The same category 4 rating applies to Attica, parts of Evia, and the islands of Lesvos (Mytilene), Chios, Psara, Samos and Ikaria, the map shows. Several other island and mainland areas of the country are rated category 3, “high” risk, according to the agency.
The daily map is produced as part of the “IOLAOS 2” general emergency response plan for forest fires, now in its fifth edition, which requires the risk assessment to be published every day of the fire season and to remain valid for the following 24 hours.
Purpose of the daily forecast
According to Civil Protection, the map is meant to alert agencies involved in firefighting to the areas facing elevated fire danger over the next 24 hours, so that emergency services can raise their readiness and respond jointly and quickly if a fire breaks out. The agency said the tool also supports public awareness campaigns aimed at preventing fires caused by negligence.
Friday’s rating follows a similar very high wildfire risk assessment for Crete on Thursday, when authorities said they had stepped up patrols across the island. Crete has also faced a run of category 4 “orange” alerts this week, which have come with bans on open fires in sensitive forest and rural areas. A meteorologist has previously attributed the island’s repeated high-risk ratings to a combination of wind, heat and terrain.
Civil Protection did not specify additional restrictions tied specifically to Friday’s category 4 rating for Crete beyond the general readiness measures set out in the “IOLAOS 2” plan.
