In neighboring Turkey, a fire described as the worst in decades has spread to parts of the country’s southern coast for the past 10 days, killing eight people.
A volunteer firefighter has been killed in a fire in the Greek capital’s most important national park, while at least 20 people have been injured in a fire during the country’s worst heat wave in 30 years. Thousands of residents and tourists have fled by land and sea near the flames.
In apocalyptic scenes overnight and on Saturdays, ferries evacuated 1,153 people from the seaside village and beaches of Evia, an island of rugged, wooded mountains popular with vacationers and campers. . People grabbed children and made older adults sit on chairs as they climbed the smaller ghats for safety.
People on board a ferry rescue people from a forest fire in the village of Limni, Greece. (Reuters Photo)
Another major fire broke out in the southern Peloponnese region of Mani, where the deputy mayor of eastern manic, Eleni Dracoulakou, told the state broadcaster Huh that 70% of its territory was destroyed.
“It’s a biblical catastrophe. We’re talking about three-quarters of the municipality,” Dracoulaco said, pleading for more support from water-dropping planes.
Several fierce fires have pushed Greece’s firefighters to the limit. The government appealed for help through The European Unionemergency assistance system. Firefighters and aircraft have arrived from France, Ukraine, Cyprus, Croatia, Sweden and Israel, and are expected to arrive from Romania and Switzerland on Saturday.
Chief of Civil Defense, Nikos Hardalias, speaking during Friday evening’s briefing, firefighters faced “extraordinarily dangerous, unprecedented conditions” as they battled 154 wildfires this week, 64 of which were still burning at night.
“For the past few days, we have been facing a situation without precedent for the intensity and wide distribution of wildfires in our country and new outbreaks throughout (Greece),” he said. “I want to assure you that all available forces are participating in the fight.”
The country has been baked by its longest heat wave in three decades, with temperatures rising as high as 45 °C (113 °F). A drop in temperature was recorded on Friday, but the winds picked up, making the situation more serious.
People on board a ferry rescue people from a forest fire in the village of Limni, Greece. (credit: Reuters)
Evacuation orders for villages and neighborhoods, sent by push alerts on mobile phones in affected areas, are continuing, while police and firefighters are going door-to-door urging people to leave homes in the path of flames.
On Friday, changing winds and new flashpoints lashed north of Athens and over Avia to repeatedly change direction, in some cases endangering areas that had escaped destruction earlier in the week.
After burning through forests and houses towards the capital’s main reservoir, Lake Marathon, a branch of fire went into the lake. Mount Parnitha National Park. The park, one of the last remaining substantial forests near Athens, still has deep scars from the wildfires in 2007.
Flames rise as a forest fire burns in the village of Limni on the Greek island of Ivia. (Reuters Photo)
A 38-year-old volunteer firefighter died on Friday after suffering a head injury when an electric pole fell in an area north of the capital, officials said. At least 20 people across the country need treatment, including two firefighters hospitalized in intensive care.
The cause of the fire is being investigated. Hardalias said three people were arrested on Friday on suspicion of intentionally setting fire to two cases in the Greater Athens region, central and southern Greece. Police said the suspect, who was detained north of Athens, allegedly opened fire at three different places in the area, which first broke out on Tuesday.
Greek and European officials have also blamed climate change for the large number of summer fires in southern Europe, from southern Italy to the Balkans, Greece and Turkey.
In Italy, firefighters battling a forest fire in the province of Reggio Calabria found the bodies of a man and a woman in an olive grove. italian news agency lapresse Both died of suffocation due to smoke.
Massive fires have been burning for weeks in Siberia, in Russia’s north, while hot, bone-dry, thunderstorm weather has also fueled devastating wildfires in California.
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