Near Cholargos cemetery, at the foot of Gimettos mountain, 64 active members Voluntary Forest Protection Group of Papagos Cholargos Municipality gathered last Saturday afternoon to hold a meeting in connection with the approaching fire season.

At first, entering the courtyard of the fire station, you think that at that time the school is visiting. But then, considering the day – Saturday – you understand that these are not students, but young volunteers.

“Many of our volunteers are young. OUR our average age is 28 years old. We are also proud that out of 64 active team members, 24 are women. Our youngest members are 19 and our oldest are 60,” says volunteer group leader Stelios Furnaris, pointing out that “whether you call us a group or a family, it’s the same for us.”

The Papagu-Cholargu Volunteer Group actively supports the Imitto Development Protection Association (SPAY), which cooperates with a total of 12 groups and has the largest number of members from each group (more than 150 registered citizens).

“This band started with the love we all have for mountain. I, especially someone who lives in the area, is very happy that I was given the opportunity to offer and protect the forest. In fact, my joy is double, because I also introduced my children, who are now also volunteers,” Penelope tells us, who, instead of walking for hours on the mountain, preferred to patrol it.

Although the volunteer group is active all year round, even during periods of bad weather, summer mobilization is higher.

“If I miss the weekend, I feel guilty”

“Weather conditions are unfavorable. There was not even enough rain and snow that fell in Attica. Dry weather and high temperatures for the season prevailed. Also, the north wind contributes to the drying of the ecosystem. “Unfortunately, we had a lot of Northerners this year,” says Mr. Furnari.

However, the group’s new volunteers seem to be fully aware of the difficulties that may arise.

“Volunteering for me is a germ”

“Volunteering for me is a germ. Either you have it or someone goes through it,” 19-year-old Penny tells us. On the other hand, her friend Despina emphasizes that she has already taken a lot of things from everyone there. “I think volunteering changes your psychology.“, he emphasizes.

On the other hand, Nikos, one of the oldest volunteers, was accidentally infected with a “germ”. “Four years ago, the team visited the school to talk about volunteering. My son studied at this school, so I happened to be aware of their work. Since then, I have been an active member of the team, because simply I want to keep seeing the beauty of the green around me.“.

Unfortunately, not everyone considers volunteering an integral part of their daily lives. “We have found with bitterness that volunteering has become a ‘fashion’ after a tragic event. After Varibompi and Evia, we received many applications from people who wanted to volunteer with us. As a result, out of about 80 applications, only 2-3 of them remain active participants”Furnari says.

“I can’t watch the forest burn”

Stamatis, on the other hand, decided to volunteer after the great fire of Waribompi, but he never considered love of the mountain a “fashion”. “When I saw what a great destruction there was, I said to myself, ‘I can’t sit idly by. Since then, I have not missed a minute, not a day, not a month, not a season.

The same thing happened with Angelos, who decided to become an active participant after the tragedy in Mati. “It was a tragedy that shocked me. Then I decided to become a member, train, and since then I have never disappeared, ”he emphasizes“ K ”.

Action takes discipline, then we’re all friends

After hearing from all 14 people who spoke to K that they consider the volunteer group to be their family and Imittos to be their second home, I felt compelled to ask the leader the “secret of success”.

“I just laid down a rock and tried to encourage every volunteer to be themselves. Also I tried to convey to them the “embryos” of teamwork. Here we are one for all and all for one. When a fire breaks out and we mobilize, then discipline is needed. After the end of the alarm, we are all friends,” says Mr. Furnari.

And precisely because “volunteering requires discipline,” there are many hours of learning and action.

Every year at this time, all volunteers undergo an 80-hour fire brigade drill in cooperation with a nearby fire department. This is how we get a certification certificate to be able to participate in missions. Since this year, Law 4662 on Civil Protection has come into force, which will now include a 20-hour theoretical part and 100 hours of training. However, in practice this will be effective from 2024, and each volunteer will have their own individual register. In addition, we train here every day. We make virtual scenarios in places chosen without the knowledge of volunteers, and every year we hold a large-scale two-day training. Finally, we have begun the process of certifying some first aid volunteers,” describes Mr. Furnaris, noting that at least four fire incidents were prevented last year thanks to the night shifts the team performs throughout life. summer.

The state is completely absent

Although it is clear that the members of the Papago Cholargos Voluntary Forest Conservation, as well as other municipalities, often offer work that is beyond their capacity, the state is still not on their side.

Our team has many needs. Equipment, personal protective equipment and vehicles. The municipality and SPAW help in any way they can to maintain fire engines, facilities, and other requests that we have from time to time. Unfortunately, however, the state is woefully absent. One of our requests to the state is to provide us with a transport vehicle for personnel, which has not flourished for years. The infantry group had to get to the place of fire several times on their own vehicles,” say the members of the volunteer group, emphasizing that in their case they were just lucky that they have the support of local actors.

The above is confirmed by the president of the Ymittos Defense and Development Association and the mayor of Hellinikon Argyroupoli, Yiannis Konstantatos, who emphasizes that the actions of the Association are a model for the country.

“The Ymittos Development Defense Association is the largest population association in the country with 1.5 million people. Our goal is for volunteers to receive all logistical support from SPAW, but we wish we had more active support from the state. In particular, despite the fact that significant steps were taken with the Recovery Fund, a large amount was allocated last year and we cleared Ymittos, unfortunately, the entire Antonis Tricis program was not implemented, since the association has received half of the funding so far. he should have received. I hope that the remaining SPAH studies will also be implemented in the next period,” concludes Mr. Constantatos.