GreekReporter.comEnvironmentMega Fire Burning in Greece, Smoke Reaches North African Shores

Mega Fire Burning in Greece, Smoke Reaches North African Shores

By Paula Tsoni
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Firefighters at the front in Greece
Firefighters and volunteers battled 59 fire fronts across Greece on Saturday. Credit: AMNA / Giota Lotsari

Firefighters and volunteers in Greece on Saturday continued to fight the devastating wildfires that started in Boeotia the previous day, with the flames having spread into Attica, to the dense pine forest around the coastal village of Porto Germeno.

Emergency evacuations were ongoing throughout the day in threatened areas while dozens of houses were reported to have been destroyed in the flames.

Satellite images from the mega fire raging in western Attica in the outskirts of Athens showed the smoke crossing the Mediterranean Sea and reaching the north shores of Africa, more than 750 kilometers (466 miles) away.

The fires that started at Xironomi and Kalamaki in Boeotia on Friday morning had spread over a vast area, swallowing up large tracts of land and destroying several homes in their path, AMNA reports.

Gale force winds prevented aerial firefighting efforts for most of the day while ground forces battled the flames restlessly hand in hand with volunteers.

Emergency evacuations continue as vast areas burn

Firefighting efforts continued on three fronts on Porto Germeno—one heading toward the Kithairon mountain ridge, one at Agia Paraskevi, and one from Mytikas toward Psatha.

By Saturday afternoon, the ground forces deployed to the area had been increased to 496 firefighters, supported by 22 teams from the Special Forest Operations Unit (EMODE), volunteers, and 134 fire engines and miscellaneous other vehicles, according to the latest update from the Hellenic Fire Service.

These included 23 firefighters and four vehicles sent by France and 23 firefighters with four vehicles from Romania.

Air support was being provided by nineteen firefighting aircraft and eleven helicopters. The Fire Service reported that particularly strong gale-force winds had resulted in persistently precarious conditions, which prevented aerial means from restocking on water or carrying out water drops as a result of severe turbulence despite the continuous efforts of the crews.

According to a local mayor, more than one hundred houses had been burned down in the area.

Fires burning in regions across Greece

In Boeotia, where the mega fire started, firefighters were focusing their efforts in two locations, one north of Domvraina and the second at Livadostra.

Additional reinforcements were sent to combat a forest fire that had erupted at 2pm local time on Saturday in Skaloma, Fokida, Central Greece. The force battling the blaze was increased to 42 firefighters and two ground units, nine vehicles, eight firefighting aircraft and three helicopters, assisted by local authority water tankers and heavy machinery.

A new emergency alert was sent to residents, advising them to evacuate Pefkaki and Efpalio late on Saturday. Earlier, residents were called to evacuate Magoula in the direction of Monastiraki and the villages Klima, Pigi, Koukoura and Nea Koukoura toward Pefkaki and Efpalio.

The National Crisis Management and Operations Coordination Centre is receiving constant updates of the fire’s progress from drones equipped with thermal and optical cameras.

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