Greece mulls water-saving moves as heatwave intensifies
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Arab News
12 hours ago
- Arab News
Greece gets EU help to battle disastrous wildfires
ATHENS: Greece battled wildfires that have ravaged homes and sparked evacuations for a second day on Sunday, with the help of Czech firefighters and Italian aircraft expected to arrive later. Five fires were still raging Sunday morning in the Peloponnese area west of the capital, as well as on the islands of Evia, Kythera and Crete, with aircraft and helicopters resuming their work in several parts of the country at dawn. 'Today is expected to be a difficult day with a very high risk of fire, almost throughout the territory,' fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said Sunday, though he added that the situation was improving. Forecasters predicted the strong winds that have fanned the flames would die down on Sunday in most areas but warned that Kythera, a popular tourist island with 3,600 inhabitants, continued to face 'worrying' windy conditions. Evacuation messages were sent to people on the island, which lies off the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese, early on Sunday as the fire raged unabated. 'Houses, beehives, olive trees have been burnt,' Giorgos Komninos, deputy mayor of Kythera, told state-run ERT News channel. 'A monastery is in direct danger right now,' he said, adding that half of the island had been burnt. Dozens of firefighters supported by three helicopters and two aircraft were battling the Kythera blaze, which erupted Saturday morning and forced the evacuation of a popular tourist beach. Greece had earlier requested help from EU allies and two Italian aircraft were expected Sunday, according to the fire brigade, with units from the Czech Republic already at work. Eleven regions of Greece still face a very high fire risk, according to officials. Firefighters are working in several areas of the Peloponnese and there were numerous flare-ups overnight on the island of Evia, near Athens, where the flames have laid waste to swathes of forest and killed thousands of farm animals. Workers have toiled since dawn to repair serious damage to Evia's electricity network and some villages were facing problems with water supply. Further south on Crete, reports said fires that broke out on Saturday afternoon and destroyed four houses and a church and largely been contained. In Kryoneri north of Athens, police were reportedly bolstering security as fears grow that looters could target houses abandoned by residents fleeing a fire that erupted on Saturday afternoon but was mostly contained on Sunday. 'We are fighting here. What can we do,' asked Kryoneri Giorgos, wearing a mask to protect himself from the smoke. He said on Saturday afternoon he and others were battling to save 'the work of a lifetime.' 'By the time I got here the flames were already up here. It all happened so fast,' said Alexandros Andonopoulos, who rushed from Athens to the village. 'Fortunately the firemen arrived quickly.' Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote on social media that anyone who lost possessions 'should know that the state will be by their side.' He said Saturday was a 'titanic' struggle but 'the picture today looks better and the battle continues with all available resources.' Greece has endured heatwave conditions for almost a week, with temperatures passing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in many areas. On Saturday, the temperature reached 45.2C in Amfilohia, in western Greece. The extreme heat is expected to die down from Monday. Last month, fires on Greece's fifth-biggest island Chios, in the northern Aegean, destroyed 4,700 hectares of land, while early July a wildfire on Crete forced the evacuation of 5,000 people. The most destructive year for wildfires in the country that is deemed a climate change hotspot, was 2023, when nearly 175,000 hectares were lost and there were 20 deaths. Greece, like many countries is experiencing hotter summers stoked by human-induced climate change, which increases the length, frequency and intensity of wildfires.
Al Arabiya
14 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Greece gets EU help to battle disastrous wildfires
Greece battled wildfires that have ravaged homes and sparked evacuations for a second day on Sunday, with the help of Czech firefighters and Italian aircraft expected to arrive later. Fires were still raging Sunday morning in the Peloponnese area west of the capital, as well as on the islands of Evia and Kythera, with aircraft and helicopters resuming their work in several parts of the country at dawn. 'Today is expected to be a difficult day with a very high risk of fire, almost throughout the territory,' fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said Sunday, though he added that the situation was improving. Forecasters predicted the strong winds that have fanned the flames would die down on Sunday in most areas but warned that Kythera, an popular tourist island with 3,600 inhabitants, continued to face 'worrying' windy conditions. Evacuation messages were sent to people on the island, which lies off the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese, early on Sunday as the fire was raging unabated. 'Houses, beehives, olive trees have been burnt,' Giorgos Komninos, deputy mayor of Kythera, told state-run ERT News channel. 'A monastery is in direct danger right now,' he said, adding that half of the island had been burnt. Dozens of firefighters supported by three helicopters and two aircraft were battling the Kythera blaze, which erupted Saturday morning and forced the evacuation of a popular tourist beach. Greece had earlier requested help from EU allies and two Italian aircraft were expected Sunday, according to the fire brigade, with units from the Czech Republic already at work. Heatwave conditions Eleven regions of Greece still face a very high fire risk, according to officials. Firefighters are working in several areas of the Peloponnese and there were numerous flare-ups overnight on the island of Evia, near Athens, where the flames have laid waste to swathes of forest and killed thousands of farm animals. Workings have been scrambling since dawn to repair serious damage to Evia's electricity network and some villages were facing problems with water supply. Further south on Crete, reports said fires that broke out on Saturday afternoon and destroyed four houses and a church and largely been contained. Police were reportedly bolstering forces in Kryoneri north of Athens, as fears grow that looters could target houses abandoned by their owners fleeing a fire that erupted on Saturday afternoon but was mostly contained on Sunday. Greece has endured heatwave conditions for almost a week, with temperatures passing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in many areas. On Saturday, the temperature reached 45.2C in Amfilohia, in western Greece. The extreme heat is expected to die down from Monday. Last month, fires on Greece's fifth-biggest island Chios, in the northern Aegean, destroyed 4,700 hectares (11,600 acres) of land, while early July a wildfire on Crete forced the evacuation of 5,000 people. The most destructive year for wildfires was 2023, when nearly 175,000 hectares were lost and there were 20 deaths.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Al Arabiya
Wildfire burns through northern suburb of Greece's capital Athens and residents are told to evacuate
A wildfire burned through a northern suburb of the Greek capital of Athens on Saturday and some residents were ordered to evacuate, the country's Fire Service reported. Residents of the town of Kryoneri, 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) northeast of Athens, received 3 SMS messages to evacuate to safe areas, Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyannis told reporters. Greek media have shown houses on fire. The spokesman said there have been reports of damages. 'We will take stock when the fires have been put out. The real difficulties are ahead of us,' Vathrakoyannis said, adding that Greece has asked for six firefighting planes from the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism. On site, 145 firefighters and 44 fire engines, 10 firefighting planes and seven helicopters are attempting to put out the fire, whose origin is unknown. Four ambulances are treating at least five residents, most of them elderly, with respiratory problems. Temperatures reaching or exceeding 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), dry conditions and high winds are fanning the flames. 'Under such conditions, wildfires expand very quickly and become dangerous. These conditions are expected to prevail over the coming days,' Vathrakoyannis said. The fire service is also dealing with three other major fires in the southwest, on Greece's two largest islands–Crete in the south and Evia north of Athens–and also on the island of Kythera northwest of Crete. At least 335 firefighters, 19 planes and 13 helicopters are involved but can only operate in daylight. In total, 52 wildfires broke out across the country over the past 24 hours, the spokesman said. Wildfires, many of them destructive, have become a common occurrence in Greece in recent years. Several have broken out in the past month.
