Almost 300 firefightersin is trying to put out a fire near the town of Varnavas, 35 km north of Athens. “The fire reached homes in the afternoon and is still spreading and the situation remains dangerous,” Reuters wrote.
As reported by eKathimerini, the fire is moving towards Lake Marathonwhich is a reservoir of drinking water for Athens. The height of the flames exceeds 25 meters.
The second fire broke out in the forest near Megarawest of the capital. Fortunately, firefighters managed to put it out. However, the city's mayor told the media that “the fire “It swallowed up several houses” – local media reported.
Residents of several towns near the fires were notified call for evacuationThe situation is made more difficult by high temperatures, drought and strong winds with variable direction, which in gusts it has a force of over 7 on the Beaufort scale – wrote the AMNA agency. The wind is hampering the work of 26 firefighting planes and helicopters taking part in the operation.
Greece. Firefighters battle large fires. Authorities warn
Firefighters also took up the fight against the fire on Sunday. forest area in the town of Filiates, in the region bordering Albania.
As reported by the Protothema portal, the services are conducting fire extinguishing action primarily from the airbecause it is a difficult area due to the minefield located there.
On Saturday, Greek Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Defence Vasilis Kikilias warned that Greece is waiting a very difficult week in terms of fire. He announced that half of the country will be in a very high fire hazard.
In the past 24 hours, Greece has exploded 40 fires, 33 of which were quickly extinguished – the fire department reported.
Greece. Fires a serious threat
This is yet another series of fires in Greece that we are reporting on this summer. At the end of June, we wrote about the outbreak 40 fires in one day.
At that time, the services reported that “the situation is difficult and dangerous” due to the wind speed, which exceeded 100 kilometers per hour. Two villages in the south-east of the country were evacuated at that time.
The “lungs of Greece”, the Parnitha National Park, were also burning. There were strong winds and numerous high-voltage pylons – made it difficult to use firefighting planes.
Kos. Fires ravaged the island
A difficult situation befell tourists and residents at the beginning of July the Greek island of Kos. Due to the fires that are difficult to control thousands of people were evacuated from thereincluding Poles.
Public buildings served as shelters. Evacuees also gathered at the local stadium and other sports facilities.
Speaking to Sky News, British tourist Clare Smith said the island was an “apocalyptic landscape” and the sky was covered with smoke.
Last year, a severe two-week heatwave was followed by devastating fires that killed 20 people. According to the National Observatory in Athens, the flames consumed almost 175,000 hectares of forests and agricultural land.
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