Greece and Turkey battle wildfires and extreme heat; Turkey sees 122 F

UPI

2 days ago

1 of 2 | Firefighters and volunteers battle a wildfire in the area of Kryoneri, in the suburbs of Athens, Greece, on Saturday. Photo by Yannis Kolesidis/EPA
July 27 (UPI) -- Extreme heat, high winds and fires have plagued parts of Greece and Turkey amid the high tourist season as temperatures in Greece have risen to 111.2 degrees and in Turkey to 122.9 degrees.
In the Karabuk province of Turkey, firefighters have battled fires for four days. In Eskisehir, Turkey, 10 people died on Wednesday, BBC reported.
Ibrahim Yumakli, Turkey's forestry minister, said on Sunday that areas affected by fires were "going through risky times" and that it would be several days before they were fully contained.
Some local authorities have restricted water consumption, including for the resort of Cesme on Turkey's west coast.
Greece is battling five major wildfires with extreme temperatures likely to continue. There are 11 regions of the country at "very high risk of fire." Greece has formally asked for assistance from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for six firefighting aircraft.
Two major fires are on the islands of Kythira and Evia. Kythira, which is popular with tourists, is just off the tip of the Peloponnese peninsula, and Evia is a large island northeast of Athens. Firefighters were still battling to control major blazes on Kythira and Messinia, on the Peloponnese peninsula, Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis, Greece's fire service spokesperson, said.
A fire in Kryoneri, a suburb northeast of Athens, has been contained.
On Kythira, a blaze broke out Saturday morning in the village of Pitsinades. According to initial estimates, about 20% of the island has been affected by the fire. New evacuation alerts were issued Sunday, when the government ordered residents of several villages to leave.
The fire service would not have been able to cope if "there had been another two or three fires like the one near Athens," Vathrakoyiannis told the New York Times.
"The state mechanism has been called to engage in a titanic battle, simultaneously responding to dozens of wildfires across the country," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a statement. "To those who saw their properties destroyed by the fury of fire, know that the state will stand by your side."
Climate crisis and civil protection minister Giannis Kefalogiannis previously said they "have injured firefighters, human lives were put at risk, properties have been burned, and forest areas have been destroyed."
Public broadcaster ERT reported on Kythira that "Tte first images are resonant of a biblical disaster as huge areas have been reduced to cinders and ash," The Guardian reported.
The island's deputy mayor, Giorgos Komninos, was cited as saying: "Everything, from houses, beehives [to] olive trees has been burnt."
Fires in Greece are becoming more frequent in the hot summers. Earlier this month, a fire forced 1,500 people to evacuate from homes and hotels on Crete, a popular tourist island.
Scientists have designated the Mediterranean, including much of Greece, a "wildfire hotspot" as blazes become more frequent and destructive during hot, parched summers. Governments of the affected countries say the climate crisis is the cause.