AFP
Forest fires in Greece force hundreds to evacuate
Greece battled a series of wildfires on Sunday that forced hundreds of people to evacuate, while experts warned of even more extreme weather conditions in the coming week. Firefighters battled a “dangerous” blaze near Athens on Sunday evening, with smoke shrouding parts of the capital in a cloud of haze. By Sunday afternoon, firefighters had extinguished 33 of the 40 fires that had broken out in the previous 24 hours, fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told the press at an emergency briefing. But emergency services were still battling seven more fires in the Mediterranean summer heat, he said. The country’s civil protection minister had warned a day earlier that half the country was at high fire risk due to high temperatures, gusts of wind and drought. In the eastern Attica region, an uncontrolled fire was still raging in the Varnavas area on Sunday evening, spreading to a pine-forested area with scattered houses and emitting so much smoke that Athens glowed red at times. Hundreds of people were evacuated from at least eight nearby villages, while some tried to save their homes from the fire by attempting to extinguish the flames. “The situation remains dangerous as the fire is raging in an area with houses and has caused damage,” Vathrakogiannis said. “The strong winds have spread it at lightning speed and caused extreme behavior with new fronts behind the containment lines,” he added. – Flames 25 meters high – A force of more than 400 firefighters, supported by 110 vehicles, 29 firefighting planes and helicopters, was deployed to fight the flames, which “in many cases were more than 25 meters high,” Vathrakogiannis said. Firefighters and forest commandos were to continue the fight throughout the night. In the village of Metohi, which was not yet threatened, Eugenia told AFP she was afraid of what might happen during the night. “Every year we have to flee our homes,” she said from the saddle of her motorbike, having just checked on her cats. The fire service spokesman stressed that many trapped civilians were rescued because they refused to leave their homes despite evacuation calls. Giorgos Tsevas, 48, from Polydendri, a village near the fire front, which means “many trees” in Greek, was distraught: “Everything is burning. I have 200 olive trees there, but now they are gone.” Another fire that broke out early Sunday afternoon in Megara in western Attica and triggered an evacuation alert was partially contained after destroying at least three houses and cars. 48 firefighters with 13 vehicles and additional volunteers worked on the scene and provided aerial support. In Thessaloniki, a fire in the Lagadas area was partially brought under control. 20 firefighters, 10 vehicles and a helicopter were on site. – Extremely high temperatures – Highs of 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) are expected in Greece on Monday, with the highest temperatures expected in the west of the country. Wind speeds of 80 to 90 kilometers per hour are expected in some areas. Kostas Lagouvardos, head of research at the National Observatory of Athens, told ERT News that Sunday was expected to be the most difficult day for firefighting. The Mediterranean country is particularly prone to fires in the summer, when fires break out every day. After the warmest winter on record, Greece also experienced the hottest months in June and July since reliable data began in 1960. The earliest heatwave was recorded in June. Scientists warn that human-caused fossil fuel emissions are worsening the length, frequency and intensity of heatwaves around the world. Rising temperatures are leading to longer periods of wildfires and increasing the area burned, according to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. amj-kan/imm
