At around 11 am on Monday, an Air Force Chinook helicopter brought Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to the Greek island of Thassos, where firefighters have been battling the flames of a wildfire for the past three days.
After surveying the damage, Tsipras announced a package of relief measures for the victims of the blaze that consumed large swathes of forest and farmland on Thassos. He told local officials that affected farmers, livestock farmers and beekeepers will receive compensation from the ministry of agriculture and the farmers’ insurance fund ELGA. He also said the Infrastructure Ministry will cover 80 percent of the cost for the reconstruction of the houses that were burned while the other 20 percent will be covered with a long-term loan.
The government will also prepare studies on flood protection and for the swift reforestation of the land. “The destruction is extensive, but Thassos has huge reserves of green areas and will remain a very important tourist destination,” Tsipras said.
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Upon his arrival to Thassos, Tsipras was greeted by the island’s mayor Costas Chatziemmanoyil who promptly updated the prime minister of the latest developments in the firefighting efforts.
The Prime Minister was also updated on the health of five firefighters who were wounded fighting the flames.
Tsipras and Chatziemmanoyil also spoke about the initial reports blaming lightning strikes for sparking the simultaneous wild fires and how fast the fires were able to spread.
The Prime Minister left the island shortly afterwards and witnessed an areal view of the forest fires below.
The island now has 250 firefighters with 73 vehicles along with six water-dropping helicopters and five planes trying to control the fires, the AP reports.
Local accounts claim that ten homes have been destroyed or damaged on the northeast side of the island, while perennial trees, crops and large areas of pine forest have become fields of ash.
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