We reproduce the article published today in The Diario Vasco by José María Sarriegi, Deputy Director Research Tecnun, in which he discusses the topic of the fires that usually occur in summer, and in particular the one that is ravaging Athens and its surroundings these days. 

"When we still have on the report the serious fires in Portugal last summer, we are again confronted with devastating news, this time near the city of Athens. Unfortunately, fires are a phenomenon we are faced with on a recurring basis every summer.

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that a country like Greece has once again been so severely affected by one or more large simultaneous fires. And although it is still too early to know in detail what has happened in this particular case, it can be assumed that this disaster will respond to several circumstances, which, if they had occurred each one in isolation, would not have had consequences of such magnitude, but which, when concatenated, have had these disastrous results.

On the one hand, and according to initial indications, the fire was set voluntarily, probably with the intention of causing a significant impact. On the other hand, a country exposed to a severe economic crisis that has been forced to make multiple cuts, also in human and technical resources to respond to fires. In addition, the affected environment is located on the outskirts of a large city that has been transformed in a disorderly manner in a few years. Finally, a very large seasonal summer population without a sufficient knowledge of the area to make the right decisions in an emergency status . And all this seasoned with the effects of climate change, which amplifies the effects of this disaster subject .

Currently, the management of these disasters can be improved. There are projects aimed at developing technologies that improve the response, such as the use of drones to analyze more precisely the status of the fire at any given moment, geolocation equipment that allows to know in detail the position of each firefighter or the use of social networks for better communication with the population. There are others aimed at speeding up and improving the learning that can be done from previous crises, although this learning is always burdened by reasons of confidentiality, caused by the assumption of potential responsibilities. There are also projects aimed at integrating into the prevention, response and recovery process all public, private and social agents that can contribute value and knowledge. It is everyone's task to demand that our society be better prepared, and to actively contribute to this better preparation.

In this subject of situations, we can only send our support and solidarity to those who have been affected and use what has happened to improve our preparedness and awareness for this subject of situations. We must be aware that at some point we will have to face unforeseen situations that will overwhelm our response capacity. Until then, the results of the investment we make in increasing our resilience will not be visible. And if they are not visible, even better, because this will mean that we have avoided crises, which is the goal maximum of preparedness".