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Volunteers that are the vigilant guards of Zakynthos.
Their love for Zakynthos is their only goal, when it comes to protecting the environment and the property of our fellow citizens. This love often brings them to the forefront of fires, from which our island has been tested and sadly injured, many times. The members of the voluntary forest protection “O Pefkos” along with other fire fighting teams around Zakynthos, offer an extremely valuable service to our Island, for it is often these volunteers that are first on the scene.
Volunteering is not just a term, it is a multifaceted process and way of life, as it has a constructive effect on the social fabric. It affects everyone, regardless of social and economic discrimination. It promotes the active participation of citizens in defending fundamental rights and strengthens social solidarity and cohesion. A voluntary action aims not only at the temporary treatment of the problem, but, as the case may be, also at the treatment of its causes, the strengthening of the beneficiaries and the continuous operation of support structures . “O Pefkos” is one example of our volunteer groups we are lucky to have on our Island.
These last few days Greece has been under attack, wildfires causing extreme damage across our nation. We have seen on T.V channels and social media just how important volunteers are in situations like these. In some cases it is only volunteers fighting the battle; they pick up where the government has failed.
Here on our Island “O Pefkos” volunteers have been making patrols within our forest region on a 24hr basis. There are about twenty five active members, who in turn take shifts.
They are equipped with up-to-date recourses to help in their battle, protecting our environment and the personal property of our citizens. They are often the ones that can lead our Fire fighters through forest paths and off the beaten tracks, especially when a fire starts in an area which is too difficult to access by vehicle.
They are the ones who guard the forest during extreme heat conditions, patrolling twenty four seven. They are the ones we call when things get tough, to stand by our fire fighting department and other Government organisations so as to strengthen their teams. They act willingly and without being forced or paid to do it! These volunteers are truly an asset to our community!
At the moment our Island is on extreme alert, we have already had a few fires that were suspiciously lit. The team were first to report and act!
Zakynthos Informer talked to a volunteer. We asked “what can we do to help? The answer we got was;
“you can be an active volunteer by helping us… just keep an eye out in your neighbourhood for anything suspicious, for example, a person walking around the forest or on a motor bike without number plates when we are on high alert, call us or call the fire department. We will act immediately”.
Tourists visiting our Island can also help, and they often do”. Our volunteer went on to explain, “we had a tourist with a drone, he often went on walks to take photos with it, he could see smoke in the distance and he called 199 immediately, we were at the scene first and had put the fire out even before the fire department arrived, we were lucky.”
Many have praised the work of these volunteers, in the words of a citizen who recently commented on social media ” Each one of these volunteers is unique, they set an example. It is from these volunteer groups that humane acts are carried out and the sensitivity these people have towards our environment, show in the time they provide. They defy everything to keep us safe!
