When a small brush-fire leads to tragedy, then something is rotten in our firefighting service. When young people die in a routine operation (such as the mission in Rethymnon’s Doxaro region was described) then the entire firefighting system has to be reappraised.

The death of the three firefighters who were on seasonal contracts raises harsh questions regarding how our forests are protected and the level of training of those who fight fires.

Maybe this tragedy too stems from the chronic problem of sloppiness. Procedures that should have been stuck to were probably relaxed. Someone may have been indifferent to the necessary protective measures. That is why blame has to be apportioned. There is a long summer ahead: We must find out what went wrong and ensure it is not repeated. This is our state’s greatest debt to the heroic firefighters who were lost so senselessly.