The huge fire that has ravaged the Dadia national park in Greece, in the northeast of the country, for two weeks is on the way to being brought under control, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on Monday.
“According to the latest information from the firefighters that we have, the front of the Dadia fire is on the way to being completely under control,” he said while affirming that teams remained positioned to monitor the area.
Described as a “mega fire” according to experts, the Dadia forest fire, an area protected by the European Natura 2000 network, has so far destroyed more than 81,000 hectares, almost half of the hectares affected by the fires since the start. summer in Greece, according to the European Copernicus Observatory (EMS).
Compensation for farmers
Like many countries around the Mediterranean, Greece is plagued every summer by devastating fires which this year have killed at least 26 people and ravaged at least 150,000 hectares, according to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Pavlos Mitsotakis promised compensation for farmers and people whose homes were damaged in the affected areas. According to the government spokesman, the Prime Minister must go to the Evros region, where the Dadia forest is located, to see the damage and reassure the populations affected by the disaster.
More bad weather in the days to come
Measures for the reforestation of devastated areas and work to deal with floods were also announced last week by the government. “After the prolonged risk of fires, the Meteorological Service warns of severe bad weather which should affect our country in the coming days”, warned the government spokesman.
“The authorities are on alert (…) and we ask citizens to carefully follow the instructions given,” he added.