On August 11, 2021, firefighters and locals continued to extinguish wildfires near Neochori village in Gotinia, Peloponnese, Greece
Nick Paleologos/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
- As firefighters are still struggling to control emergencies, night rains in wildfire ravaged areas in Greece have helped “improve the situation.”
- In the past two weeks, fires caused by the worst heatwave in Greece in decades have burned nearly 100,000 hectares of land and killed three people.
- On Thursday morning, a new fire broke out in the Aspropyrgos forest area, 20 kilometers northwest of Athens.
A local mayor said that night rains in wildfire-ravaged areas in Greece helped “improve the situation,” but hundreds of firefighters were still trying to control new emergencies.
Fires caused by the worst heatwave in Greece in decades-authorities blame climate change-have burned nearly 100,000 hectares of land in the past two weeks, killing three people, leaving hundreds homeless and thousands Forced to evacuate, and the economic and environmental damage that followed.
A firefighting official told AFP that the “fire lines are still active” in Evia and Arcadia in the Peloponnese, and “fires are constantly burning” in both areas.
On Thursday morning, a new fire broke out in the Aspropyrgos forest area, 20 kilometers northwest of Athens.
After several weeks of severe temperatures usually far exceed 40 degrees Celsius, it is expected that the temperature on Thursday will be below 33 degrees Celsius.
The mayor of Gortynia, Stathis Koulis, said that falling temperatures and night rains in Evia, the Peloponnese and central Greece helped “improve the situation”.
The village of Gortina, located in the Arcadia Mountains, 200 kilometers west of Athens, has become the main focus of the Peloponnes Peninsula, and the deep valley posed a challenge for firefighters.
In the past few days, the area has evacuated 20 villages, 680 firefighters, including more than 100 firefighters sent from France, and 5 water drop planes have been fighting the flames.
Greek firefighters are supported by more than 1,200 reinforcements, vehicles and equipment from many countries (especially Europe).
In just eight days, 568 fires were recorded across Greece.
The European Forest Fire Information System stated that since July 29, Greece had the worst wildfire since 2007, and nearly 100,000 hectares of forest and farmland were burned.
“I can’t stand it anymore,” Kostis Angelou said as he wandered between the carcasses of his goats, all 372 goats destroyed by a fire that engulfed the Evia Forest.
The 44-year-old farmer managed to survive for several hours under an irrigation pipe surrounded by flames.
“A saint saved me,” he said.
The Mediterranean has suffered a barbaric fire season. Algeria announced that 69 people had been killed in the fire there starting from Thursday, and the nation mourned for three days.
Italy was also hit by fires. The temperature in Sicily on Wednesday was 48.8 degrees Celsius. If confirmed, this will set a new European record and exceed the previous record in Greece.
Earlier this month, fires in southern Turkey killed 8 people, while in the north, the death toll rose to 5 on Thursday due to flash floods that swept several areas of the Black Sea.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a “Code Red” report on Monday, warning that the world is warming much faster than previous concerns, and the latest extreme weather events have followed.
According to the IPCC assessment draft exclusively seen by Agence France-Presse, the Mediterranean has been listed as a “climate change hotspot.” Rising temperatures and drought have prolonged the fire season and doubled the area that may be burned.
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