{"id":5954,"date":"2026-05-17T09:34:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T06:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=5954"},"modified":"2026-05-17T09:34:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T06:34:00","slug":"over-100-drones-in-the-battle-of-fire-protection-how-they-will-monitor-forests-and-high-risk-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/?p=5954","title":{"rendered":"Over 100 drones in the battle of fire protection – How they will monitor forests and high-risk areas"},"content":{"rendered":"

With an extensive network of more than 100 drones, Political Protection and Fire Brigade<\/strong> are significantly enhancing operational planning for this year’s fire season by investing in technology and direct fire detection. <\/p>\n

These drones will be deployed in all regions of the country, operating on a 24-hour basis to monitor forest areas, detect hazards early and mobilize forces faster. <\/p>\n

Strategic deployment of drones across Greece<\/strong> <\/h2>\n<\/h2>\n

According to information from Public Protection<\/strong>, the drone sites have been strategically selected to cover forest and suburban areas, as well as areas considered high risk due to a history of fires or difficult access. The systems are equipped with thermal cameras, high zoom cameras, laser range finders, GPS and sophisticated telemetry systems. <\/p>\n

The Deputy Minister of State for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Evangelos Tournas<\/strong>, had recently noted that: “we cannot deal with natural disasters with tools and logics of the past”, stressing that continuous adaptation of planning is required in the face of the new conditions created by the climate crisis. <\/p>\n

At the same time, he had reiterated that the operational doctrine is based on: “Surveillance, early warning, immediate mobilisation of forces and rapid intervention to contain the fire in the first critical minutes”, adding that “the key to effective response is firstly, to limit the starts as much as possible and secondly, to intervene early”. <\/p>\n

Where the drones are distributed<\/strong> <\/h2>\n<\/h2>\n

The largest concentration of drones will be in Eastern Greece<\/strong>, where 27 units will operate. In Central Macedonia<\/strong>, 15 drones will be deployed, followed by Peloponnese<\/strong> with 8, Sterea Greece<\/strong>, Western Greece<\/strong> and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace<\/strong> with 7. At the same time, drones will operate in Thessaly<\/strong>, Epirus<\/strong>, Ionian<\/strong>, Crete<\/strong>, Northern Aegean<\/strong>, South Aegean<\/strong> and Western Macedonia<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

In addition, this year’s fire season will see the operation of three specially configured mobile surveillance units with drones, which will be located in Attica<\/strong>, Thessaloniki<\/strong> and Crete<\/strong>, with the possibility of moving to wherever required depending on operational needs. <\/p>\n

These units will feature advanced multi-back-up communication systems, multi-screen control consoles and sophisticated data processing units, ensuring uninterrupted image flow to the operations centres. <\/p>\n

How drones work in practice<\/strong> <\/h2>\n<\/h2>\n

The drones will conduct continuous surveillance flights both day and night. During the night hours, they utilize thermal cameras, through which they can detect thermal hotspots or suspicious smoke trails even in inaccessible areas. <\/p>\n

The image is transmitted in real time to the Regional Operations Centres and the National Coordination Centre for Operations and Crisis Management (NCCM)<\/strong>, but also to tablets and smartphones of the forces in the field. In this way, all operational actors have a common view of the fire’s progress in real time. <\/p>\n

The role of drones in the first minutes of a fire outbreak is considered particularly important, as they provide immediate operational insight and facilitate decision-making for the deployment of ground and air forces. <\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence and the “Panic Button”<\/strong> <\/h2>\n<\/h2>\n

Drones have thermal and optical sensors, and utilize sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI)<\/strong> algorithms to instantly detect thermal anomalies and calculate precise geographic coordinates. According to Police sources<\/strong>, a “seamless surveillance mechanism” is being created. <\/p>\n

The drone operator can scan his area of responsibility and, if he spots a suspicious spot, focus with thermal and optical zoom and immediately notify the Fire Department<\/strong>, sending an accurate geographic location. <\/p>\n

At the same time, the system has a special immediate alarm function, the so-called “Panic Button”. Once a fire outbreak is detected, its activation causes the live image on the video wall of the operations centre to be automatically enlarged, allowing rapid assessment of the incident before the first responders even arrive on the scene. <\/p>\n

Significant improvement over previous years<\/strong> <\/h2>\n<\/h2>\n

The use of drones in forest firefighting has seen a dramatic increase in recent years. 2024 was the first year of widespread operational deployment with 40 drones, while in 2025 the number increased to 80. This year, the fleet now exceeds 100 units, showing the clear shift of Public Protection<\/strong> to technology and prevention in the face of the increasingly difficult conditions of the fire season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n With an extensive network of more than 100 drones, the Civil Protection and the Fire Brigade are significantly enhancing the operational…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greece"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}