The cooperation of the Municipality of Meteora with the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection brings a particularly important development for the protection of Aspropotamos during this year’s fire season, as the area will now be under 24-hour surveillance through a system of drones, decisively enhancing the prevention and immediate response to possible fires.
The installation of the surveillance system with drones in the area of Aspropotamos in the Municipality of Meteora has already been completed, which is connected directly to the Fire Service Headquarters, offering a continuous image and operational readiness in real time. This is an essential intervention to protect a particularly important mountainous area of rare natural beauty, which had been severely tested by the disasters caused by the bad weather Daniel in September 2023.
The inclusion of the area in the ministry’s surveillance program was made after the initiative of Meteora mayor Lefteris Avramopoulos, who had submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, calling for the strengthening of surveillance and fire protection in the mountainous area of Aspropotamos. The proposal was accepted by the political leadership of the ministry and thus the system was installed and is now operating at the Community Store of the Local Community of Kallirroi, fully equipped with drones and staffed with qualified operators throughout the 24-hour period.
In a statement to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, Meteora Mayor Lefteris Avramopoulos stressed:
“We are happy because Aspropotamos will now be guarded 24 hours a day by the drone system, in order to ensure safety. In the last two years, significant steps have been made in the field of Civil Protection, as already from May 2025 the Operational Centre for Civil Protection of the Municipality of Meteora is operating, equipped with drones and volunteers on a 24-hour basis. However, the Municipality of Meteora is the second largest municipality in the country and, as you can understand, there was difficulty to have continuous surveillance in Aspropotamos, although there was a fire truck for immediate intervention where needed.
One important fact that reflects the improvement in the operational picture in the area is that in 2024 there were 116 wildfire incidents recorded with a total burned area of 306 acres, while in 2025 there were 106 incidents recorded resulting in only 112 acres burned. This significant reduction is the result of the excellent cooperation of all stakeholders, but also of the increased preparedness demonstrated by the Municipality of Meteora through the Local Operational Center for Civil Protection, which operates on a 24-hour basis.”
At the same time, in the coming days, according to him, the Municipality of Meteora is further strengthened, as it will be equipped with six new Civil Protection vehicles, three of which will be firefighting, significantly strengthening the operational capacity to intervene in each area of the municipality. The vehicles are funded by the Region of Thessaly, further strengthening the Civil Protection mechanism of the municipality.
The mayor of Meteora, in his statements particularly thanks the leadership of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection for the immediate response and support of the region, while special reference was made to the former Minister Yannis Kefalogiannis, who – as noted – had initiated this development, contributing decisively to the implementation of planning for the protection of Aspropotamos.
The cooperation of the Municipality of Meteora with the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection now creates a strong safety net for Aspropotamos, significantly enhancing prevention, surveillance and immediate operational intervention in an area of high environmental value and increased risk.
