Greece receives EU aid to fight devastating wildfires

Greece receives EU aid to fight devastating wildfires

Greece is battling wildfires that have destroyed homes and prompted evacuations for a second day, with help from Czech firefighters and Italian aircraft expected to arrive later.

Fires remained active on Sunday morning in the Peloponnese region, west of the capital, as well as on the islands of Evia and Kythira, while planes and helicopters resumed operations in some parts of the country at dawn.

“Today is expected to be a difficult day, with a very high risk of fire in almost the entire territory,” fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said on Sunday, although he added that the situation is improving.

Weather forecasters said the strong winds that have spread the flames were expected to subside on Sunday in most areas, but warned that the tourist island of Kythira, with 3.600 residents, continued to face “worrying” conditions due to the winds.

Evacuation messages were sent to residents of the island, located in the southeastern Peloponnese, early Sunday morning as the fire spread unabated.

“Houses, beehives, olive trees have been burned,” the deputy mayor of Kythira, Giorgos Komninos, told state broadcaster ERT.

“A monastery is in direct danger now,” he added, noting that half of the island has burned.

Dozens of firefighters, supported by three helicopters and two planes, were battling the fire on Kythira, which broke out on Saturday morning and forced the evacuation of a popular tourist beach.

Greece had earlier requested help from European Union allies and two Italian planes were expected to arrive on Sunday, according to the fire brigade, while units from the Czech Republic have already begun work.

Eleven regions of Greece still face a very high risk of wildfires, according to authorities.

Firefighters are working in several areas of the Peloponnese and there have been many new outbreaks of fire overnight on the island of Evia, near Athens, where the flames have destroyed large areas of forest and killed thousands of farm animals.

Workers have been working since dawn to repair serious damage to Evia’s electricity grid, and some villages are facing water supply problems.

Further south, in Crete, reports say that fires that broke out on Saturday afternoon and destroyed four homes and a church have now been largely brought under control.

Police are reportedly strengthening units in Kryoneri, north of Athens, for fear that looters may target homes abandoned by residents who fled the fire that broke out on Saturday afternoon but was largely under control by Sunday.

Greece has been experiencing heatwave conditions for almost a week, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in many areas.

On Saturday, the temperature reached 45.2°C in Amfilochia, in western Greece.

The extreme heat is expected to ease by Monday.

Last month, fires on Greece’s fifth-largest island, Chios, in the northern Aegean, destroyed 4.700 hectares of land, while in early July a fire in Crete forced the evacuation of 5.000 people.

The most devastating year for fires was 2023, when nearly 175.000 hectares were lost and there were 20 fatalities. /REL/