Greek firefighters are facing a new violent vegetation fire on Evia Island, while making important progress in extinguishing another fire in Crete. The wave of heat and the wind complicates their intervention.
Greek firefighters hardly face fires in the chain. Photo: video capture
A new vegetation fire broke out in the south of Evia, the second largest in Greece, located in the Aegean Sea, where the firefighters fight the flames that included a vast surface of forest and led to the evacuation of two localities.
The incident was reported on Friday evening, and the intervention teams were immediately mobilized to limit the expansion of the fire, which manifests themselves in a region characterized by rough terrain and pastures, writes Reuters.
Currently, over 160 firefighters are involved in extinguishing actions, supported by 46 specialized vehicles and five fires. Efforts are concentrated in the southern area of Evia Island, east of the Capital Athens, near Tsakei and Limnionas, where the authorities have ordered the rapid evacuation to protect the inhabitants and tourists from these areas. The South Evia region is characterized by agricultural land, forest areas and tourist beaches, but being a less populated area.
The fire represents the most recent episode of a series of forest fires that affect Greece and other countries in South Europe, fueled by strong winds and the wave of heatwalk through the continent.
Another significant fire broke out on the island of Crete, which has consumed forests and olive trees since Wednesday, now seems under control, according to the statements of an official from the Fire Brigade. This fire caused the temporary evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists, thus affecting an important area from a tourist point of view.
Tourism is a major source of income for Greece, and these fires come in a delicate moment, right at the beginning of the summer season, causing concerns for both human safety and local economy.
Greece, along with other Mediterranean countries, is part of a region recognized by researchers as a “outbreak of vegetation fires”, where summer are getting hotter and hot.
The increase in the frequency and intensity of these fires is attributed to accelerated climatic changes, which causes authorities and experts to ask for a new and more efficient approach to prevent and manage these natural disasters.
And in Romania, in the last days the firefighters have struggled to extinguish the flames that included tens of hectares of wooded land in several areas of the country.
