The commander of the 111th Air Wing of the Hellenic Air Force has been relieved of his duties pending the completion of an administrative review of the circumstances and causes of the fire and explosions at the ammunition depot in the Karampa area of the Magnesia prefecture.
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The incident happened on Thursday evening. A strong fire burned in this area for the second day, because of the strong wind, the fire spread to the territory of the warehouses, although fire engines guarded the military camp.
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“The command of the 111th air wing and the leadership of the Air Force, according to reliable information, assured in writing that the fire safety and fire extinguishing systems at the ammunition depots were working flawlessly. As a matter of fact, on the evening of Thursday, July 27, it became clear that such concepts as fire safety, fire protection, protection of ammunition depots, automatic fire extinguishing, are almost unknown. And this is in a critical Air Force unit, perhaps the second most important after the 110th Wing in Larisa, which is the heart of the Air Force, where, in addition to state control, the safety of ammunition and the operation of passive fire protection systems are automatically ensured, even if immediate evacuation of personnel is required (as this happened on Thursday July 27th) and has been confirmed to be 100% trouble-free even under the most extreme conditions,” local media reported.
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Since in this Air Force unit, as in every air wing, the ultimate responsibility lies with the commander, it was decided to replace him immediately. The investigation will determine whether other persons under the command of the General Staff of the Air Force are responsible.
