Greece gets EU help to battle disastrous wildfires
The fronts were 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.
Forecasters predicted the strong winds that have fanned the flames would die down on Sunday in most areas, but warned that Kythera 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 local outlet ERT News.
"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 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 several 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.
Further south on Crete, reports said fires that broke out on Saturday afternoon and destroyed four houses and a church and largely been contained.
Greece has endured heatwave conditions for almost a week, with temperatures passing 40 degrees Celsius in many areas, though the heat is expected to die down from Monday.
kan/jxb
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The Australian
a day ago
- The Australian
Turkey battles wildfires as heatwave grips Med
Firefighters battled blazes across Turkey on Monday as the country sweltered in a summer heatwave across much of the Mediterranean, with wildfires leading to at least 14 deaths in the country in the past week. Around 20 villages have been evacuated, officials said, and more than 3,500 people forced to leave their homes. "We are burning up, we don't even know where to go anymore," Asmin Gezginci, 24, said while returning from a park to her home in the Kurdish-majority southeastern city of Diyarbakir. Temperatures had already soared to a record high of 50.5 degrees Celsius (123 Fahrenheit) on Friday in Silopi, two hours from Gezginci's home. According to weather forecasts, the heatwave will continue this week with temperatures of 40C to 45C in the central Anatolia region and 45C to 50C forecast in the southeast on Tuesday. On Monday, local authorities in Diyarbakir warned residents about temperatures "four to six degrees above seasonal norms until August 2". In the city, the thermometer was already showing 45.4C at midday, an AFP journalist saw. The heatwave has exacerbated forest fires on the dry ground that have spread rapidly in windy conditions. Firefighters tackled blazes around Bursa in the northwest on Monday, the country's fourth-largest city and a major industrial centre, for the third consecutive day. Their efforts were hampered by strong winds fanning the flames, according to Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli. Some residents used tractors to transport water tanks, while television images showed others rushing toward the blazes with bottles of water in their hands. - Response 'sometimes limited' - But the intensity of a fire in Karabuk in the north has diminished, and a fire in Kahramanmaras in the south is now "under control", Yumakli said. "Given the size and intensity of the fires, the state's ability to respond quickly to such disasters is sometimes limited," he acknowledged. "If there is wind, there are no planes, and it takes hours, even days, for you to take control," he said. In recent days, 19 villages had to be evacuated in the Safranbolu region in the north, and more than 3,500 people around Bursa. In a televised speech after a weekly cabinet meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 96 percent of the fires were caused by human activity such as cigarette butts and picnic fires. There were also a few cases of sabotage, he said. "Let us not forget that this is a war, a defence of our green homeland, against this insidious enemy," Erdogan said. "We are doing what is necessary, and we will continue to do so." Last week, a wildfire killed at least 10 forest workers and rescuers fighting a blaze near Eskisehir in western Turkey. A firefighter battling the flames died of a heart attack on Saturday. Three more people died Sunday in an accident involving a water tanker truck that was used to battle a blaze, Bursa authorities said. According to Erdogan, more than 3,000 fires have broken out since the beginning of summer, and authorities warn the situation will remain critical until October. A UN report on desertification worldwide estimates that 88 percent of Turkey's territory is at risk: rainfall is expected to decrease 30 percent by the end of the century, while temperatures are expected to rise by 5C to 6C compared to the averages recorded between 1961 and 1990. - New fire in Greece - Across the Aegean Sea in Greece, where blazes have ravaged homes and sparked evacuations across the country this summer, firefighters worked Monday to contain outbreaks after bringing dozens under control over the weekend. Even as the heat wave gripping the country began to ease, a new forest fire broke out near the university campus east of Athens, in the municipality of Zografou. According to firefighters, 65 firefighters, 20 vehicles, seven helicopters and six planes were mobilised to contain the flames. Greece has endured heatwave conditions for a week, with temperatures passing 40C in many areas. And on the Iberian Peninsula, four Spanish planes joined more than 250 Portuguese firefighters battling a blaze Monday in an isolated mountain region near their border, authorities said. The blaze in north Portugal's Viana do Castelo district was spreading in two directions and difficult to tackle because of the strong winds, civil protection chief Marco Domingues said. One firefighter has been injured. Authorities have put much of northern and southern Portugal on the highest alert for wildfires because of high temperatures and strong winds. burs-mb-ach/fo/js
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
Turkey battles wildfires as heatwave grips Med
Firefighters battled blazes across Turkey on Monday as the country sweltered in a summer heatwave across much of the Mediterranean, with wildfires leading to at least 14 deaths in the country in the past week. Around 20 villages have been evacuated, officials said, and more than 3,500 people forced to leave their homes. "We are burning up, we don't even know where to go anymore," Asmin Gezginci, 24, said while returning from a park to her home in the Kurdish-majority southeastern city of Diyarbakir. Temperatures had already soared to a record high of 50.5 degrees Celsius (123 Fahrenheit) on Friday in Silopi, two hours from Gezginci's home. According to weather forecasts, the heatwave will continue this week with temperatures of 40C to 45C in the central Anatolia region and 45C to 50C forecast in the southeast on Tuesday. On Monday, local authorities in Diyarbakir warned residents about temperatures "four to six degrees above seasonal norms until August 2". In the city, the thermometer was already showing 45.4C at midday, an AFP journalist saw. The heatwave has exacerbated forest fires on the dry ground that have spread rapidly in windy conditions. Firefighters tackled blazes around Bursa in the northwest on Monday, the country's fourth-largest city and a major industrial centre, for the third consecutive day. Their efforts were hampered by strong winds fanning the flames, according to Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli. Some residents used tractors to transport water tanks, while television images showed others rushing toward the blazes with bottles of water in their hands. - Response 'sometimes limited' - But the intensity of a fire in Karabuk in the north has diminished, and a fire in Kahramanmaras in the south is now "under control", Yumakli said. "Given the size and intensity of the fires, the state's ability to respond quickly to such disasters is sometimes limited," he acknowledged. "If there is wind, there are no planes, and it takes hours, even days, for you to take control," he said. In recent days, 19 villages had to be evacuated in the Safranbolu region in the north, and more than 3,500 people around Bursa. In a televised speech after a weekly cabinet meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 96 percent of the fires were caused by human activity such as cigarette butts and picnic fires. There were also a few cases of sabotage, he said. "Let us not forget that this is a war, a defence of our green homeland, against this insidious enemy," Erdogan said. "We are doing what is necessary, and we will continue to do so." Last week, a wildfire killed at least 10 forest workers and rescuers fighting a blaze near Eskisehir in western Turkey. A firefighter battling the flames died of a heart attack on Saturday. Three more people died Sunday in an accident involving a water tanker truck that was used to battle a blaze, Bursa authorities said. According to Erdogan, more than 3,000 fires have broken out since the beginning of summer, and authorities warn the situation will remain critical until October. A UN report on desertification worldwide estimates that 88 percent of Turkey's territory is at risk: rainfall is expected to decrease 30 percent by the end of the century, while temperatures are expected to rise by 5C to 6C compared to the averages recorded between 1961 and 1990. - New fire in Greece - Across the Aegean Sea in Greece, where blazes have ravaged homes and sparked evacuations across the country this summer, firefighters worked Monday to contain outbreaks after bringing dozens under control over the weekend. Even as the heat wave gripping the country began to ease, a new forest fire broke out near the university campus east of Athens, in the municipality of Zografou. According to firefighters, 65 firefighters, 20 vehicles, seven helicopters and six planes were mobilised to contain the flames. Greece has endured heatwave conditions for a week, with temperatures passing 40C in many areas. And on the Iberian Peninsula, four Spanish planes joined more than 250 Portuguese firefighters battling a blaze Monday in an isolated mountain region near their border, authorities said. The blaze in north Portugal's Viana do Castelo district was spreading in two directions and difficult to tackle because of the strong winds, civil protection chief Marco Domingues said. One firefighter has been injured. Authorities have put much of northern and southern Portugal on the highest alert for wildfires because of high temperatures and strong winds.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
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. The fronts were 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. Forecasters predicted the strong winds that have fanned the flames would die down on Sunday in most areas, but warned that Kythera 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 local outlet ERT News. "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 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 several 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. Further south on Crete, reports said fires that broke out on Saturday afternoon and destroyed four houses and a church and largely been contained. Greece has endured heatwave conditions for almost a week, with temperatures passing 40 degrees Celsius in many areas, though the heat is expected to die down from Monday. kan/jxb
