Greece continues to fight relentlessly against fires. This morning Athens too woke up surrounded by a black cloud generated by a fire that broke out in the northern sector of the capital. The country, explained the Deputy Minister of Civil Protection, Nikos Hardalias, is struggling with about eighty fires, of which 40 are still active.
The Greek authorities have appealed to the citizens of the capital, asking them to stay indoors, while the fires are raging and the air is polluted by a thick blanket of smoke and ash. There are currently 500 firefighters, 5 planes, 9 helicopters, police and army fighting the flames that are destroying the forests of Mount Parnitha, not far from Athens, in the Acharnes region. The flare-up of the flames and the expense of smoke and ash blown by the wind have prompted the authorities to ask the inhabitants of the capital to keep their windows closed and reduce travel to a minimum.
In Varympompi, which is located about 30 kilometers north-west of Athens, dozens of houses, factories and premises were badly damaged. In this town, where the inhabitants were forced to leave their homes, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis went for a visit. “The situation has improved and we hope to control the fires in the next few hours,” announced the press office of the Fire Brigade on Wednesday morning.
Firefighters are busy extinguishing the flames that also besiege the suburbs of Adames, Thracomakedones and Acharnes. Numerous homes were destroyed and residents evacuated. In the early hours of today an evacuation order was also issued for part of the suburb of Kryoneri due to the forest fires. “Our main goal is to save lives,” said the Minister of Civil Protection, Michalis Chrysochoidis, after an emergency summit.
Greece is experiencing the worst heatwave in decades, with temperatures in some parts of the country expected to reach 45 degrees. The country still remembers the horror of July 2018, when 102 people died in the hell that broke out around the coastal city of Mati, just outside the capital, a fire with the worst death toll in the country’s history.
Turkey on fire
Efforts continue unabated to stem the fires which in the last 8 days have already destroyed at least 100,000 hectares of the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, killed 8 people and forced to evacuate more than 16,000 residents and several hundred tourists. According to data provided by the forest ministry, out of a total of 174 fires, 160 have been tamed but 14 are still active in the areas of Antalya, Mugla, Aydin, Isparta and Denizli. The situation remains critical in the areas of Antalya and Mugla, which include the tourist resorts of Manavgat, Bodrum and Milas, where 28 villages for a total of 16,603 people have been evacuated and access to the area is now only allowed to firefighters. and means for extinguishing fires.
In Manavgat a man was arrested and then detained on charges of voluntarily starting fires. Turkey was hit by violent fires in 39 of the country’s 81 provinces, to which the authorities responded with the use of 16 aircraft, 9 drones, 51 helicopters, 850 fire trucks, 150 mechanical shovels and 5,250 firefighters and men of the civil protection. However, there was no lack of controversy, as the Turkish government in 2019 chose to ‘rent’ vehicles and pilots from abroad, leaving its 9 Canadair in the hangars.
Two Canadian CL-415s arrived from Spain with 27 pilots, joining a plane from Croatia, three from Ukraine, three from Russia and one from Iran. For days I have been working to support Turkish firefighters and volunteers, who have not been able to count on the Turkish Canadair, kept on the ground by reckless management by the government.