ATHENS – As fires are been breaking out across Greece as often happens during the summer, three southern municipalities of the capital near the seacoast are using drones to spot them to help direct firefighters.

That’s being done, said Kathimerini in Vari, Voula and Vouliagmeni, the first in the country to use the technology, with the drones circling the municipalities 24 hours a day in surveillance.

Civil protection authorities plan to expand to other areas if it proves successful in being an early warning system to catch outbreaks in time to prevent them from becoming full-grown conflagrations hard to control.

The three neighborhoods are stretched out between Mount Ymittos and the sea to the south of the capital and especially susceptible to fires that are driven by winds although many have been arson.

The drones are equipped with digital and thermal cameras that send images to their handlers in real time, as well as with megaphones through which handlers can issue warnings if they spot any suspicious activity down below, the report said.