ATHENS: Firefighters are working tirelessly to control a wildfire threatening Greece’s third-largest city Patras, one of more than 20 fires prompting the country to request European Union support.
Strong winds and arid conditions have intensified fires nationwide during a heatwave affecting southern Europe, with Spain, Portugal, Montenegro and Albania also combating blazes.
Since early Wednesday, Greece mobilised 4,850 firefighters and 33 aircraft to tackle the crisis, according to fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.
He described the situation as “a very difficult day”, noting 15 firefighters required hospital treatment after battling multiple fires.
Conditions near Patras showed slight improvement, but a new fire near the ancient Voudeni archaeological site endangered forests and homes while shrouding the area in dense smoke, an AFP journalist observed.
A health facility was evacuated on Tuesday, along with a vehicle storage yard containing 100 cars, while several houses sustained damage.
Approximately 20 villages were evacuated in the Peloponnese’s western Achaia region, where Patras is located.
“The catastrophe is very big,“ West Achaia mayor Grigoris Alexopoulos told Greek news agency ANA.
Additional fires raged on tourist destinations Zante and Chios, the latter still recovering from June’s devastating blaze that destroyed over 4,000 hectares.
Coastguard teams assisted nearly 80 evacuations from Chios and areas near Patras.
Temperatures in western Greece, including the northwest Peloponnese, were forecast to approach 40C on Wednesday by national weather service EMY.
Greece formally requested four water bombers through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on Tuesday to reinforce firefighting capabilities.
“This is undoubtedly the toughest 24 hours of the fire season,“ firefighter union president Kostas Tsigkas told broadcaster ERT.
He noted 82 fires erupted on Tuesday alone, exacerbated by strong winds, drought and extreme heat creating “huge difficulties” for crews.
Gusts reaching 88 kph have swept Greece since last week, worsening a deadly wildfire south of Athens that claimed one life.
European Forest Fire Information System data shows Greece has lost over 22,000 hectares to wildfires this year. – AFP
