Greece is fighting three major forest fires in the north, south and east on Sunday, forcing tourists and residents to evacuate, and fears new disasters due to the heat wave that has hit the country.
On the island of Lesbos, some 200 people were evacuated on Sunday midday in the village of Vryssa, where the fire is about 500 meters from homes, the deputy mayor of western Lesbos, Andreas Aksis, said on the radio. Skai.
Elderly women carried plastic bags containing a few belongings as they boarded the first buses to leave Vryssa, while thick clouds of smoke blanketed the first houses in the village.
In the early afternoon, the village of Stavros was also evacuated.
The fire, which broke out on Saturday, has already caused the evacuation of hundreds of tourists and residents of the seaside resort of Vatera, and continues to rage according to firefighters.
Sunday morning, dozens of firefighters were at work to counter the flames, equipped with four water bombers and two helicopters.
At least four homes were destroyed, according to public broadcaster ERT, while several shops, hotels and beach bars in the village were damaged.
Since Saturday, Greece has been affected by a heat wave expected to last ten days and temperatures of 42 ° C are expected in some regions, raising fears of other fires.
Exceptionally difficult fire
In the north of the country, firefighters, assisted by volunteers, continue to fight for the fourth consecutive day against a violent fire in the Dadia National Park, the largest Natura 2000 site in Greece, known for its colony of vultures.
The exceptionally difficult fire, according to fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopoios, forced authorities to evacuate the village of Dadia on Saturday evening. It has already destroyed nearly 500 hectares of forest.
The fire reached the raptor observatory and was approaching the buildings of a protected area management unit.
“The most important thing for us is the safety of the villagers and all forces will be deployed there,” Evros Governor Dimitris Petrovits told Athens News Agency.
Caring for injured animals is a top priority for authorities, he added.
In the Peloponnese, the village of Chrysokelaria had to be evacuated on Saturday evening due to a fire near Koroni.
Around noon on Sunday, the fire was contained by firefighters.
On Wednesday, a forest fire in mountains near Athens damaged homes and forced several hundred people to leave, a few kilometers from the coastal village of Mati, scene in 2018 of the worst disaster caused by a forest fire in Greece. , which killed 102 people.
The proliferation of extreme weather events is a direct consequence of global warming according to scientists, with greenhouse gas emissions increasing in intensity, duration and frequency.
Last year, a heat wave and forest fires destroyed 103,000 hectares and killed three people in Greece.