Improved fire situation in Greece

On Friday, Greek firefighting teams reported that the overall situation regarding the raging forest fires on the tourist islands of Rhodes, Corfu, and Evia, as well as in central Greece, is showing signs of improvement, although they remain on high alert. 

A spokesperson for the firefighting office stated to Agence France-Presse (AFP), "At present, we do not have any active fire front. The general scene is improving, but we remain ready to contain any further outbreaks."

The fire, which broke out near Voulus in central eastern Greece on Wednesday, reached the air force base in Nea Anghialos, located about 20 kilometers from Voulus, resulting in successive explosions at an ammunition depot on Thursday.

The coastguard confirmed that more than 130 people were evacuated on Thursday evening by boats from the port of Nea Anghialos.

Local media reported that the fire at the military base has been contained, and residents of Nea Anghialos are returning to their homes to assess the extent of damage to houses and shops, some of which had shattered windows due to the impact.

On the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea, firefighting units, supported by water bombers, are still battling to contain the wildfire that has been raging in the south and east of the island for over a week.

In northern Corfu, located in the Ionian Sea in northwestern Greece, evacuation operations were carried out earlier in the week following a powerful fire outbreak last weekend, while the country has been experiencing a heatwave for several days.

Although several Mediterranean countries are grappling with scorching temperatures and wildfires, Greece has endured a heatwave and fires lasting for over ten days, the longest such period in July in recent decades, according to experts.

So far, four people have lost their lives in the Greek fires, which have consumed approximately 50,000 hectares of forests and vegetation, according to estimates from Athens Observatory.

Temperatures began to decrease on Thursday after reaching 45 degrees Celsius at the end of the previous week. The National Meteorological Service predicts that temperatures on Friday will not exceed 37 degrees Celsius, with wind speeds occasionally reaching 60 kilometers per hour.




AFP