Communication vacuum

Fire service did not brief police, Kathimerini learns, as more officials are replaced

There was no communication between Greece’s fire service and the country’s police force on July 23 when huge fires in Attica killed dozens of people, Kathimerini has learned.

Official documents seen by the newspaper indicate that multiple calls from Attica Police headquarters to the HQ of the fire service in Halandri went unanswered. The claims are in writing and are to go to Athens prosecutor Ilias Zagoraios, who is overseeing an investigation. The only call from the fire service to the police that was recorded that night, Kathimerini understands, was to the emergency line 100 by a fireman seeking help to rescue people trapped in a burning house in Neos Voutzas.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pressed on yesterday with an overhaul of top officials in a delayed response to criticism over the state’s response to the fires, replacing the country’s civil protection chief, the fourth change of heads in as many days. Greece’s general secretary for civil protection Yiannis Kapakis was replaced by Yiannis Tafyllis, director of the Center for Security Studies, an Interior Ministry think tank. His departure came a day after the replacement of Greece’s police and fire service chiefs. That followed the resignation of Alternate Minister for Citizens’ Protection Nikos Toskas last week.

But despite government pledges to ensure that those responsible for the blazes of July 23 are held to account, no statements were made admitting to any errors.

The political opposition indicated as much. “Mr Tsipras is playing musical chairs in a bid to save himself,” Maria Spyraki of New Democracy. “However many times he might change the roles of his associates, the responsibility for the situation in this country is his.”

One official yesterday indicated that those who stepped down are not necessarily guilty. “Responsible people who resign are one thing, and culpable people are another,” Alternate Minister for Agriculture Yiannis Tsironis said. “It doesn’t mean those who did their job and resigned are culpable.” He attributed the tragedy to global warming and said he felt responsible “because we cannot explain to our people what climate change will bring.”

Meanwhile Attica Governor Rena Dourou is said to have refused opposition appeals for a meeting to be held about what happened at Mati, the coastal settlement that was hardest hit by last month’s fires.