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| A helicopter drops water on a forest fire in Keratea, near Athens, on June 30, Greece. |
| Photo : AFP/VNA/CVN |
A tourist hotspot, the country is plagued by fires every year, but the situation is expected to be even more tense this year after the mildest winter on record and the earliest heatwave, with temperatures reaching 44°C.
Two large forest fires were raging Sunday evening in Attica, the region where the Greek capital is located, and residents of at least eight areas near the city were urged to evacuate their homes.
The Ert television channel reported that a 45-year-old man died of cardiac arrest while trying to flee the flames in Stamata, north of Athens, where winds exceeding 70 km/h were recorded.
Sunday June 30th will have been “The most difficult day firefighters have faced in fighting fires this year”insisted the spokesperson for the firefighters, Vasilis Vathrakogiannis, to the press.
| A firefighter battles a forest fire in Keratea, near Athens, on June 30 in Greece. |
| Photo : AFP/VNA/CVN |
In Keratea, south of the capital, the fire which broke out around 1 p.m. reached cars and houses, of which, according to Ertnews, at least four were completely destroyed.
“The situation is very difficult because strong winds continue to blow”at a speed greater than 60 km/h, and “there are many homes”Lavreotiki mayor Dimitris Loukas told the ANA news agency.
However, he assured that the neighboring air base was not currently threatened.
The day before, a fire had already occurred in the same area, before being brought under control.
Black smoke
The industrial zone of Ritsona, on the island of Euboea, which extends for nearly 160 km in the Aegean Sea, was also engulfed in flames on Sunday.
Black smoke rose above a recycling plant, where tires, mattresses and other materials were piled up.
| A wildfire approaches houses in Keratea, near Athens, on June 30, 2024 in Greece. |
| Photo : AFP/VNA/CVN |
Firefighters were trying to prevent the fire from spreading to other factories.
Furthermore, a major forest fire which started Saturday afternoon on the island of Serifos was extinguished by firefighters early Sunday June 30.
“The entire southwest of Serifos burned. The flames stopped when they reached the sea”Serifos Mayor Konstantinos Revintis told MEGA TV.
Damage was caused to houses, warehouses and chapels, he lamented.
Of the “hard times”
The forecast map published by the Civil Protection Ministry for Sunday warned of a very high risk of fires for Attica, the southern Peloponnese peninsula, the island of Crete, the northern and southern Aegean Sea and central Greece.
| Helicopters drop water to extinguish a forest fire on Mount Parnitha, near Athens, on June 29 in Greece. |
| Photo : AFP/VNA/CVN |
Saturday June 29, a forest fire on Mount Parnitha, not far from Athens, was finally able to be brought under control only after several hours, with the help of reinforcements from other regions and volunteer firefighters. .
In total, that day, more than forty fires broke out in Greece, with winds often exceeding 100 km/h, according to the fire department.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in his weekly message on Facebook on Sunday June 30, urged his compatriots to prepare for a situation that could worsen further.
“Difficult times are ahead of us. Our effort is continuous, with the help of new tools that help build a new culture of prevention and responsibility”he wrote.
Thus, he stressed, “The fire in Parnitha was extremely severe but fortunately it was detected immediately thanks to the surveillance drone system that was set up this year for the forests and mountainous areas of Attica.”
AFP/VNA/CVN
