On Sunday, a wildfire that lasted for several days engulfed virgin forests and encroached on villages, triggering more evacuation alerts, billowing smoke and ashes turned the sky orange and blocked the sun over the second largest island in Greece.
The fire on the island of Evia started on August 3. The island is made up of forested mountains and canyons, covered with small bays, and traversed from coast to coast in an uncontrolled situation. This popular summer destination. A large number of houses and businesses were destroyed, thousands of residents and tourists fled, and many people fled the flames through fleets that even operated in the dark.
The fire was the most serious of dozens of fires after the longest heat wave in Greece in 30 years. The heat wave caused the temperature to soar to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) for several days, creating an extremely dry environment.
“It’s too late, the area has been destroyed,” Giannis Kontzias, the mayor of Evia, north of Istia Ivia, lamented on Open TV in Greece. He was one of several local officials and residents who went to the Greek TV network to call for more firefighting help, especially help from the water drop plane and helicopter.
Residents of nearby villages were urged to go to Istiaia, a small town of 7,000 people, and firefighters fought to save it overnight.
In a dramatic scene on Sunday afternoon, fast-moving flames encroached on the seaside village of Pefki on the northern coast of the island, burning down trees on the edge and entering the courtyard of the house. At least one house is on fire. The panicked residents used water tanks, water pipes and branches to fight against each other, seemingly in vain.
The pungent, suffocating smoke wafted in the orange-gray air, and people dragged suitcases, clutched pets and helped elderly relatives to the pebble beach of Pefki, turning this day into apocalyptic dusk.
The Coast Guard said that even before the flames reached the village, about 350 people boarded the ferry and 23 people were rescued from other beaches in northern Evia. A ferry, coast guard patrol boat, naval vessel and other vessels are on standby to evacuate residents.
On Sunday, four villages in northern Evia issued evacuation orders, including Pefki, but many residents refused to leave, hoping to keep their property.
In nearby Gouves, towering flames leaped from the treetops and swallowed the pine forest leading to the village. Some residents stay in the picturesque mountain village and use garden hoses to water their houses to save their lives. Others use bulldozers to level trees and bushes, hoping to build basic fire belts.
Civil Defense Director Nicos Hadalias said that the Evia fire was burning on two fronts, one to the north and the other to the south. He said the conditions there are particularly difficult for underwater aircraft and helicopters, whose pilots face “great danger” with limited visibility and air turbulence.
“We have a harder afternoon, a harder night,” Hadalias said. “All the forces that have fought an uphill battle these days will continue to act with increasing intensity and with the same spirit of self-sacrifice.”
But many people condemned the government’s efforts on the grounds that they believed that there was a lack of firefighting power or aircraft, or that their arrival was delayed.
“Although I am far from the fire, the atmosphere is suffocating. Ashes and smoke are everywhere,” said Christina Tsatou, who was in the seaside village of Agios Georgios. “Unfortunately, they didn’t send anyone to help in the first few days. Instead, they let the island burn. This is unfair. Many people have lost their property and livelihood.”
Wildfires have brought Greece’s firefighting capabilities to the limit, and the government has sought help from abroad. More than 20 countries in Europe and the Middle East have responded by sending planes, helicopters, vehicles and manpower.
On Friday night, the Greek Coast Guard and the ferry evacuated 83 people from the northern beaches of Evia, as fire raged on the hills behind them. More than 1,000 people were evacuated by the sea on Friday night.
The fire department said on Sunday that 575 firefighters, 35 ground teams and 89 vehicles are fighting the Evia wildfire, including 112 Romanian and 100 Ukrainian firefighters. Four helicopters and three aircraft provide air support.
Three other fires broke out in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece on Sunday, and another fire broke out in southern Crete on Sunday afternoon.
Another fire that destroyed forests, houses and businesses on the northern edge of the Greek capital seems to be waning. The fire destroyed a large area of Parnitha National Park, which is the largest forested area near Athens.
Hadalias said that the firefighters were worried that the Panisa Mountain fire would reignite, so they and the army patrolled all night. On Sunday, a firefighter passed out during a patrol and was transferred to the hospital.
On Friday, a volunteer firefighter died of head injuries after falling a telephone pole north of Athens. At least 20 people were injured in the fire, including two firefighters who were hospitalized in intensive care.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. On Friday, three people were arrested on suspicion of arson, two of which were deliberate arson. On Saturday, a 47-year-old Greek was arrested on the outskirts of Athens for lighting two fires in the woods and lighting four trash cans. Police said on Sunday that two other people were arrested on suspicion of attempted arson: a 71-year-old Greek in southern Greece and a foreigner in an Athens park.
Greek and European officials also blamed climate change for the large number of fires in southern Europe from Italy to the Balkans, Greece and Turkey this summer.
In the past few weeks, a fire broke out in Siberia in northern Russia, forcing more than a dozen villages to evacuate on Saturday. This year, Russia has burned nearly 15 million acres of wildfires.
In the United States, hot, dry, gusty weather has also contributed to the devastating wildfires in California.
– Becatoros reports from Argostoli, Greece.
© 2021 Canadian Press
