In response to the fierce attack launched by the Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Yiannis Kefalogiannis, against the mayor of Patras, Kostas Peletidis, over his statements about firefighting operations during the recent blazes that struck the city, the municipal authority of the Achaean capital issued a statement.

In it, the Municipality of Patras says:

“It is shameful for the Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection to speak out while fire hotspots in Patras are still ‘smoldering’ and the people are still fighting to save whatever they can, and to accuse the Mayor of Patras of not putting out the fire—thus ultimately revealing the government’s nakedness in dealing with it.”

The statement adds:

“Instead of apologizing for the lack of planning and the inadequacy of resources, they have the audacity to demand more and, in their usual manner, try to shift the blame elsewhere.”

It continues:

“Mr. Kefalogiannis, the dangerous policy is your government’s—one that the people of Patras and the entire country have experienced firsthand.”

Full text:

Response to Kefalogiannis’ Statements

It is shameful for the Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Mr. Kefalogiannis, to speak out while fire hotspots in Patras are still smoldering and the people are still fighting to save whatever they can, and to accuse the Mayor of Patras of not extinguishing the fire—thus ultimately exposing the government’s nakedness in handling it.

Instead of apologizing for the lack of planning and the inadequacy of resources, they demand more and, in their usual manner, try to shift the blame elsewhere.

We inform the Minister and his government that the fire was indeed burning within the city limits—Theofrastou and Korydalleos streets are not in a village but inside the city, just like Bozaitika and Aroi.

The workers at Xerolakka landfill, along with the municipality’s drivers and machinery operators, fought bravely and effectively inside the landfill, saving its operation and our city—on their own.

The same goes for the industrial zone (VIPE). You were absent. From the very first moment of the fire, we were calling for reinforcement of firefighting resources—which were nonexistent—and when the flames approached the gas station in the area, everyone was just waiting for rain…

Can the Minister explain why workers were left to continue working when the fire was threatening the industrial zone and their homes were burning?

The Municipality of Patras responded to every request from the Fire Service through its Civil Protection Office.

Heavy machinery was present wherever requested in the city, along with water tankers from DEYAP (Municipal Water Company) and rented machinery to assist. Many times, ordinary citizens together with the municipality’s equipment managed to prevent worse outcomes. Municipal buses transported residents from evacuation areas, and municipal facilities hosted citizens with nowhere to go.

As for evacuations, no one disputes the necessity of the 112 alert. The Fire Service, which was responsible for planning, requested the mayor’s consent when it had already decided on the evacuation. However, the state tells people to leave without any plan for protecting their property—which in the end, they themselves must save.

It is the government’s inadequacy that has degraded the 112 system, not the mayor.

The mayor wants to protect the people—not the government.

The dangerous tactic is your policy of making “run for your life” a rallying cry to people watching helplessly as their livelihoods vanish.

The dangerous policy is your government’s, Mr. Kefalogiannis—one the people of Patras and of the whole country have experienced. As they did recently when, for the third time, one of Patras’ largest hospitals caught fire.

This is the same policy that leaves fire hoses full of holes, as in Platani, and firefighters forced to extinguish flames with municipal water trucks. And it is certain that for all this, the firefighters and firefighting pilots—who go above and beyond, sleep on asphalt, and enter the fight unarmed—are not to blame.

Your political choice is to save wealth and those who own it. That is what is burning the people everywhere.

What more can we say… as the Greek writer Menelaos Lountemis wrote: “There are lies so ashamed of themselves, since the mouths that told them felt no shame.”

P.S. Who fell short of the moment has already been judged by the people of Patras.