There is an image that returns every summeri and to which, inexplicably, we still haven’t grown accustomed: the orange sky, the air heavy with smoke, the map of the country dotted with active wildfires.
And every time, the same question, the same anxiety, the same endless sense of helplessness.
But helplessness in the face of what, exactly?
That is the question worth pausing to consider. Because the fire is not a weather phenomenon that simply “happens.” It is, as a rule, the result of a chain of choices—some made at the last minute, some years ago, some that concerned us personally.
The 2026 fire season began with a factor we must not ignore: the winter was exceptionally rainy. That sounds favorable. On one level, it is. On another, it is the very definition of a trap. The lush vegetation that grew in the mountains and on the slopes of Crete —on Psiloritis, in the gorges around Heraklion, and on the hills of Messara—now, as it dries out under the June sun, constitutes highly flammable material of exceptional quality.
The state has done its job
The government is entering this fire season with the most serious operational footprint ever seen. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made it clear that this is not solely the responsibility of the Ministry of Climate Crisis & Civil Protection, but a top government priority. Fifty million euros are being allocated this year to municipalities for fire protection measures, a 25% increase compared to last year. Two thousand two hundred new personnel are bolstering the Fire Department. Fifty-one aerial vehicles and one hundred drones are monitoring the country around the clock. And the AntiNero program, which is concluding this year after five years of implementation, leaves behind an investment of nearly 870 million euros in prevention, restoration, and active forest management.
And yet, there is something that no government can buy, hire, or install with a drone. H personal responsibility toward the land. Heraklion, our prefecture, appears in the official data from the Directorate for Combating Arson Crimes among the regions with the highest rate of fire safety violations. From January 1 through the end of May 2026, 365 fines totaling over 320,000 euros were imposed nationwide, resulting in 60 arrests. All of these figures represent a blank slate—a lapse in judgment that didn’t seem serious at the time it occurred.
Until it did.
The law is clear—and so is the responsibility
The legislation leaves no gray areas. Every property owner property must have cleared it of flammable materials by June 22 and maintain this condition until October 31.The Region of Crete has designated high-risk zones in Heraklion, with traffic restrictions on days of extreme danger. This is not a bureaucratic obligation. It is a basic measure of civilized behavior toward our environment and our neighbors.
112 accepts calls 24 hours a day.
A timely call can save what, an hour later, will no longer exist.
There is a comforting but dangerous belief in our collective psyche: that this land is so rich, so resilient, so indestructible over the millennia, that it will withstand this too. That Psiloritis will still be there, that the gorges will remain, that the olive groves of Messara will still produce oil even if we do not tend to them.
That is not the case. The forests that burned in other parts of the country did not regrow within a single generation. And tourism, which is the economic backbone of our prefecture—with over 2.2 million passengers at “Nikos Kazantzakis” in the first five months of 2026 alone, requires a place worth visiting. It requires nature, scenery, and a vibrant community.
The government is doing its job.
The question I pose to every Heraklion resident and every Cretan is simple: are we doing our part?
