Clémentine Athanasiadis (in Greece) with AFP / Photo credit: LOUISA GOULIAMAKI / AFP
Hundreds of firefighters are waging a “huge battle” on Wednesday for the third day in a row against forest fires west of Athens and on the Greek tourist island of Rhodes without threatening residential areas, authorities said. . “The men and women of Civil Protection (…) are waging a huge battle against the flames,” said the Minister for the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, on the private channel ANT1.
A new wave of heat wave should hit Greece
These night and day efforts “for the third day in a row” come as “weather conditions are difficult” due to strong winds of up to 60 kilometers per hour blowing over part of the country, he said. added.
While a new wave of heat wave should hit Greece from Thursday, the minister also called on the population to be extremely vigilant. “I ask everyone to support the efforts” of the firefighters by being “very careful”, he declared. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is due to go to the Civil Defense Operations Coordination Center at the end of the morning to take stock of the means deployed to fight these forest fires which have so far caused no casualties.
The fire moves towards the area around the Isthmus of Corinth
120 firefighters, aided by four canadairs and three helicopters, are still battling the flames in the area around the seaside resort of Loutraki, about 80 km from the Greek capital, where a fire broke out on Monday afternoon. The fire is moving towards the region around the Isthmus of Corinth, according to the Greek news agency ANA. But firefighters managed to keep the blaze at a safe distance from refineries in the maritime industrial area west of Athens.
The public television channel ERT broadcast images of charred vegetation a few kilometers from the refineries, next to the highway that connects the Greek capital to Corinth, further west. In this region, houses were destroyed by the flames and the inhabitants of small localities were ordered to evacuate their homes with the sending of alert messages to all cell phones. However, they remain on alert because the danger has not been eliminated, according to ANA.
On the other main front located in the forest of Dervenochoria, 50 km north of Athens, “significant ground forces are at work and since the first light of day, 5 planes and 8 helicopters have been deployed” , said a spokesman for the fire brigade, Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, during a press briefing in the early morning. On the island of Rhodes (southeast), in the Dodecanese archipelago, a forest fire which broke out on Tuesday afternoon has spread and is progressing towards the center of the island but “without threatening residential areas for now,” said the fire department spokesperson. On site, 86 firefighters, three canadairs and three helicopters were deployed.
Four canadairs from France and Italy arrived in Greece
The European Civil Protection mechanism has also been activated and four Canadairs from France and Italy arrived in Greece as reinforcements on Tuesday, according to the spokesman. As a new heat wave looms with highs of 44°C expected on Friday and Saturday in the center of the country, firefighters have warned of “the very high risk”, according to Mr. Vathrakogiannis, of new fires. The region surrounding Athens, Attica, Crete (south) or the Peloponnese peninsula (southwest) is concerned.
Winds of up to 50 to 60 km / h are forecast for Wednesday in Greece but the national meteorological services (EMY) expect a gradual weakening at the end of the day. Maximum temperatures of 41°C are expected today in the Peloponnese peninsula (southwest), according to EMY.