What is the current situation? / Wildfires in Lesbos and Peloponnese
Drought and high temperatures are currently fueling fires in many parts of the world. In Europe, too, many countries are currently being hit by record heat and forest fires, some of which have devastating consequences. At the start of the week, emergency services in several holiday countries are fighting the flames. Greece is currently being hit by a heat wave which, according to meteorologists, will last about ten days and bring temperatures of up to 42 degrees. In large parts of the country and on the islands, the fire brigade is on duty because of the forest fires – there is no end in sight. Some places have to be evacuated.
Wildfires are currently raging in Greece
In Greece, after the weekend, large forest fires continued to rage on Monday night, July 25th, 2022. In the past week, the fire brigade registered more than a hundred sources of fire every day. According to meteorologists, the drought continues, the temperatures should remain very high and locally rise to up to 40 degrees. Within 24 hours, 141 fires were registered across Greece, as the fire department announced on July 24. According to civil protection, almost all available fire-fighting helicopters and aircraft are currently in use nationwide.
Wildfire risk in Greece is very high: the second highest warning level currently applies
There is no end in sight to the fires in Greece. Drought and the prevailing heat would hit almost all parts of Greece in the coming days and create “the perfect backdrop” for further fires, meteorologists warned on the radio. For Monday, July 25, the fire brigade issued the second highest warning level for parts of central Greece – the risk of forest fires there is considered “very high”. The capital Athens and the surrounding area as well as the island of Euboea are affected. But the danger is also “high” in the rest of the country. In some areas there is also a strong wind that fuels the fire – such as on the island of Lesbos.
Wildfires are raging on the Greek island of Lesbos
The massive fires on the island of Lesvos also raged uncontrollably on Sunday, July 24, 2022. On Lesvos, residents of the village of Vrisa on the south side of the island have been urged to leave the village. Houses and cars fell victim to the flames. The smoke on Lesvos was so strong that it could be seen from space. This was announced by the European earth observation system Copernicus on Twitter and posted a corresponding satellite image. Hundreds of people were brought to safety on the island, according to the state TV broadcaster ERT, at least four houses burned down in the village of Vatera.
Dozens of firefighters, four fire-fighting planes and two fire-fighting helicopters were deployed to fight the fires on Lesvos on Sunday. The authorities ordered 200 people from the village of Vryssa to be taken to safety. According to the mayor of West Lesvos on the Skai radio station, the flames came within 500 meters of the houses there, and the first houses were covered by dense clouds of smoke. Local people boarded the buses to evacuate the village with few belongings in plastic bags. In the southern part of the island of Lesbos, the fire has not yet been brought under control. Thousands of hectares of land are said to have already burned there, reported the daily Kathimerini.
Wildfires in north-east Greece – national park affected
Meanwhile, in northeastern Greece, countless hectares of the Dadia National Park burned. In the Evros region of north-eastern Greece, firefighters and volunteers battled the blaze for the fourth straight day at the national park known for its colony of black vultures. The fire there has already destroyed 500 hectares of vegetation, according to a fire department spokesman, the village of Dadias was evacuated late Saturday evening. The military and forest workers tried to cut aisles through the pine forests and thereby prevent the flames from spreading further. In the meantime, more than 320 firefighters with 68 fire engines were deployed.
Forest fires are raging on the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece
And the Peloponnese peninsula is not spared either: on Saturday, July 23, 2022, the Greek state radio reported on smaller fires. Now, because of a fire near the coastal town of Koroni, the residents of the village of Chrysokelaria have had to leave their homes. Firefighters brought the fire under control around midday on Sunday. A major fire broke out in the western regional district of Ilia, which also endangered residential areas.
Where is the fire in Greece? Fire also in Athens, Thessaly & Co.
But even more regions in Greece are affected by fires. Among other things, a substation of the state electricity company caught fire near the city of Larisa in Thessaly. Also on the western edge of the capital Athens had to be extinguished again. For Monday, the fire brigade still assessed the risk of fire as high to very high. Meteorologists announced high temperatures of up to 40 degrees and drought by the beginning of August. A forest fire near Athens that had been raging for two days was only brought under control by the fire brigade on July 20, 2022.
According to Civil Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos, almost 700 people had previously been brought to safety from the flames. The fire broke out on July 19 on Mount Penteli north of the Greek capital, and the flames threatened the suburbs of Penteli, Pallini, Anthousa and Gerakas. Around 500 firefighters, 120 fire engines, nine airplanes and ten helicopters were deployed to fight the fire, which was made difficult by strong winds.
The town of Stavros was also evacuated on Sunday afternoon, July 24th, 2022. Several hundred tourists and residents had been brought to safety from the village of Vatera since Saturday. Shops, hotels and beach bars were damaged by the flames.
Fires in Greece: What is the situation on Crete?
On the holiday island of Crete, firefighters fought the flames and embers of a forest fire that broke out a few days earlier on Monday, July 18, 2022. 120 firefighters were deployed with 35 fire engines, as the daily newspaper “Kathimerini” reported.
Wildfires were already raging heavily in Greece in 2021
Heat and fires have already made life difficult for people in Greece in 2021. Among other things, the island of Corfu, which is very popular with tourists, as well as Rhodes and the island of Euboea were badly affected. Last year, forest fires in Greece destroyed 103,000 hectares of vegetation and killed three people.
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