 In 1833, with the establishment of the Greek Kingdom, the fire responsibility was given to the individual prefectures and municipalities. In 1854 a Firemen Company was formed in Athens, as part of the Greek Army, expanded in 1861 into a two-company mixed sapper and firemen formation. 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, Patras and Piraeus. In 1926, the Fire Service was formed as a separate branch within the military, but proved ineffective, so that in 1929, a Greek émigré 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. Until 1975 the chiefs of the service were transferred from the Gendarmerie or the Cities Police. Nowadays Hellenic Fire Academy is assigned with the task of training firefighters and officers in order to be able to provide safety for the citizens and manage fires, forest fires, car accidents, other natural or man-made disasters and rescue operations. Among other duties information and education of the public is one of the most important aims of the Academy. Hellenic Fire Academy consists of the following schools:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
