The fire, which broke out on Tuesday in a dense pine forest area in the northern suburbs of Athens, continued to rage on Wednesday, as thousands of people were evacuated from residential zones.
A total of 442 people were taken to safety by firefighters or police during the evacuation after encountering difficulties.
ATHENS, 4 August (Xinhua) – The fire in Varybobi in northern Athens has burned about 1,250 hectares of forest and other land, while nearly 100 houses, dozens of cars and 27 companies have been damaged so far, Greek Deputy Minister of Civil Protection and Crisis Management Nikos Hardalias told a press conference here on Wednesday.
He also said that the major fire fronts seemed to be in recession. The fire brigade managed to bring the four large fire fronts together into one, but there are still many scattered outbreaks.
The fire, which broke out on Tuesday in a dense pine forest area in the northern suburbs of Athens, continued to rage on Wednesday, as thousands of people were evacuated from residential zones.
A total of 442 people were taken to safety by firefighters or police during the evacuation after encountering difficulties, Hardalias added.
Much of the Attica region, including the center of Athens, was covered in thick clouds of thick smoke as fires swept through the settlements of Adames, Varybobi, Thrakomakedones and reached Kryoneri and Tatoi on Wednesday morning.
“We withstood an extremely severe fire during extreme hot weather. I hold on to the fact that we have so far not lost lives as positive and that the evacuation system worked in an exemplary manner,” said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a meeting. in the mobile coordination center near the fire site earlier Wednesday.
“There are still difficult times ahead of us. We have a few days left of the heat wave and then the winds will start, in which case I ask everyone to be prepared,” he added.
Seventy-seven people were hospitalized with respiratory problems due to the heavy smoke in the burning area, said Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias as he visited one of the hospitals treating people affected by the fire.
Public Power Corporation units worked to restore power in the region after power lines were damaged.
Facing the biggest challenge among hundreds of forest fires this summer, Greece has asked for help from European partners.
The European Union has activated its emergency response mechanism. Cyprus and Sweden are sending groups of firefighters and firefighting aircraft that are expected to start operating on Wednesday, Hardalias noted.
Euthymios Lekkas, professor of environmental disaster management at the University of Athens, told the Greek national broadcaster ERT that the morphology of the area itself, the combination of high temperatures and low humidity levels together with the mixture of residential and forest areas, led to a state of self-ignition and spread the fire so fast.
“In the near future, phenomena such as extreme heat waves, forest fires, floods will be the norm. The climate crisis is here. We must start planning according to new procedures. We must change our way of thinking,” he said.
Greece is experiencing its worst heat wave in decades, with temperatures in some places reaching up to 45 degrees Celsius. The heat wave is expected to continue until the end of the week.
Greek authorities have warned that emergency measures will continue throughout the week, while warning messages are sent to residents in areas where there is a high risk of fire, including the islands of Rhodes and Crete.
Source: sn.dk