Greece Adds 742 Fire Service Vehicles in €79m Upgrade

by · Greek City Times

Greece has completed delivery of 742 new fire service vehicles and pieces of equipment, worth about €79 million, under the AIGIS civil protection program, the government said on Monday.

The fleet includes 726 vehicles, 15 high-capacity pump trailers and a mobile fire training simulator, the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Ministry said.

As a result, firefighters can use the fire service vehicles in forest and urban fires, floods and other emergencies, the ministry said.

Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Evangelos Tournas attended a handover ceremony for the final vehicles. It took place at The Ellinikon Experience Park in Athens on Monday.

Read more: New Fire Protection Systems Being Installed at Greece’s Ancient Archaeological Sites

“The importance of these deliveries shows in the field,” Tournas said, pointing to forest fires, floods and the rescue of trapped people.

He said that is where “the right vehicle and the proper equipment can determine the course of an operation”.

Where the fire service vehicles go

The fire service vehicles will go to all 13 of Greece’s regions, based on local needs, according to ministry figures.

Attica receives the largest share, with 130. Central Macedonia follows with 95, while the Peloponnese gets 65 and Crete 60.

In addition, Central Greece receives 56 and Western Greece 53. Eastern Macedonia and Thrace and Thessaly get 51 each.

Elsewhere, the South Aegean receives 41, Epirus 40 and the Ionian Islands 36. Western Macedonia and the North Aegean get 32 each.

The new fire service vehicles include 28 fire engines carrying 12,000 litres of water. There are also 20 smaller fire engines with 1,000-litre tanks and 15 water tankers that carry 20,000 litres.

Specifically, the list covers 160 multi-purpose vehicles, 212 nine-seat vans, 105 four-wheel-drive pick-ups, 98 SUVs and 39 buses.

It also includes seven fuel tankers, 20 specially fitted vans, five trucks, 10 tractor units, four narrow aerial appliances and three electric forklifts.

According to the ministry, the small fire engines can reach narrow streets, old town centres and islands. At the same time, the pump trailers, which move 10,000 litres a minute, improve readiness for floods.

A wider civil protection plan

AIGIS has a total budget of €2.1 billion, Tournas said. The EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Investment Bank fund it.

Through the program, the government is also upgrading air assets, infrastructure and early warning systems, he said.

Another 503 fire service vehicles are gradually joining the fleet, the ministry said. When the program ends, the Hellenic Fire Service will have more than 1,320 new vehicles.

Panagiotis Stampoulidis, deputy chief executive of the National Development Fund, also spoke. He said its project unit tendered every project assigned to it on time.

Fire Service Chief Lieutenant General Theodoros Vagias and Civil Protection Secretary-General Nikos Papaefstathiou attended as well.

The deliveries follow a 2026 fire season that killed 11 people, as Greek City Times reported. Previously, the Fire Service took 164 new units in a delivery in July 2025.

Source: Kathimerini

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