The Hellenic Fire Service ( el, Πυροσβεστικό Σώμα, Pyrosvestiko Soma) is the national agency of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

for

fire and rescue service A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

. It is part of the Ministry for Citizen Protection.''Αποστολή - Αρμοδιότητες ''
(

History

Fête nationale grecque (Athènes) (30595740062)

In 1833, with the establishment of the

Greek Kingdom The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label=Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, where ...

, the fire responsibility was given to the individual

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

and

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. In 1854 a Firemen Company (Λόχος Πυροσβεστών) was formed in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, as part of the

Greek Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

, expanded in 1861 into a two-company mixed sapper and firemen formation (Διλοχία Σκαπανέων και Πυροσβεστών). It was not until 1914 that the corps, now again known as Firemen Company and still under military control, was expanded to other cities outside Athens, covering also

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, Patras and

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

. In 1926, the Fire Service was formed as a separate branch within the military, but proved ineffective, so that in 1929, a Greek

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France followin ...

from Russia, the former head of St Petersburg Fire Service Alkiviadis Kokkinakis, was tasked with reforming the service. In 1930, the Fire Service was reconstituted as an independent national authority under the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

. Until 1975 the chiefs of the service were transferred from the Gendarmerie or the

Cities Police The Cities Police ( el, Αστυνομία Πόλεων) was a Greek police force extant from 1921 to 1984, responsible for policing urban areas. It complemented the Hellenic Gendarmerie, which was responsible for rural and suburban areas. Histo ...

. From 1998 the Fire Service has also the responsibility for

forest fires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

, taking over from the Forestry Service.

Operation

Its mission is to provide safety for the citizens and their property. It operates during fires,

, car accidents, other natural or man-made

disasters A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

and during

rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ...

operations. Other duties include the collaboration with the other Greek security forces, prevention measures and information and/or education of the public. The various legal and regulatory texts describing the organization and operation of the Fire Service were codified in 1992 in Presidential Decree 210.

Organization

# The central body is located in

# Regional Fire Services Administration # Fire station of four grades (a,b,c,d) throughout the country # Smaller fire stations (), plus voluntary fire stations and voluntary # Special Units for disasters (EMAK) # Special services: ## Firefighting Academy ## Coordinating Center (tel.199) ## General Warehouse Material ## Confrontation of arson crimes

Voluntary Corps

In 1991, a new Voluntary Corps was formed for volunteers''Ο Θεσμός του Εθελοντή Πυροσβέστη'',Πυροσβεστικό Σώμα (www.fireservice.g

/ref> (today the 15% of the strength). Volunteers act as a support force and they have to be officially recognized and trained by the Greece, Greek state. The legal and regulatory framework for volunteers in the Hellenic Fire Service and the Hellenic Coast Guard was updated with Law 4029 in 2011.Law 4029, Government Gazette A 245, 2011-11-22

Equipment

Since the 1930s, the Fire Service has used more than 3,500 vehicles. Today it owns about 2,500 trucks and cars (1,500 fire engines and fire tenders, 800 auxiliary and 200 special), 44 firefighting aircraft, 20 helicopters (5 belonging to the House and 15 leased) and 10 firefighting vessels.

Training

The training takes place at the Firefighting Academy () which is located in Kato Kifissia () with an annex at Villia Attikis. The first "Firefighting School" was established in 1936 at Sarri Street (an outpost of the 1st Fire Station) in

, while the Academy was established in 1968.

Ranks

Gallery

File:International Loadstar fire truck in Thessaloniki.jpg, Old TEMAX fire-fighting vehicle File:HFS THE2 DEH 6.jpg, Fire in ultra-high voltage transformer File:2nd Fire Station Thessaloniki.jpg, Fire station in

File:HFS THE2 003 pickup.JPG, HFS automobile File:Hellenic Fire Service Jeep Cherokee.JPG, HFS Jeep File:HFS THE2 015 tow-crane.JPG, HFS vehicle File:Patras Feuerwehr.jpg,

ELVO The Elvo (Piedmontese: ''Elv'') is a torrent (an intermittent stream) in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy and is the principal tributary of the Cervo. It runs through the communes of Sordevolo, Occhieppo Superiore, Occhieppo Inferiore, Ce ...

fire engine File:HFS THE2 012 Fire Pump.JPG, TEMAX fire engine File:Mil Mi-26TC.jpg, A Mil Mi-26TC in firefighter role in action

Notes and references

External links

* http://www.fireservice.gr {{Greek security forces Fire departments Emergency services in Greece 1926 establishments in Greece