Firefighters fought overnight to contain 82 wildfires across Greece, 64 of which started Sunday, the hottest day of the summer so far.
According to Ekathimerini, the most serious fire is on the Greek island of Rhodes, which sparked Greece’s biggest-ever evacuation operation in history.
Some 19,000 people were evacuated from several locations on Rhodes as wildfires burned for a sixth day. Greek authorities said 16,000 people were evacuated by land and 3,000 by sea from 12 villages and several hotels.
Currently, a total of 49 fire engines with 266 members crew and 16 teams of firefighters on foot, as well as water trucks and volunteers are battling the blaze on Rhodes.
There’s also been great international support. A total of 31 firefighters from Slovakia with four water trucks, two French firefighting aircraft, two Turkish aircraft and an aircraft from Croatia are in Rhodes.
Elsewhere, a large fire broke out in the northern part of the island of Corfu on Sunday afternoon, adding yet another tourist destination to those affected by large wildfires.
A message was sent via the emergency number 112 for the evacuation of the settlements Santa, Megoulas, Porta, Palia Perithia and Sinies on Corfu.
“It is a difficult situation,” Mayor of North Corfu, Giorgos Machimaris, who is in Megoulas, told state-run news agency AMNA.
On Evia, Greece’s second- largest island, another fire blazed as authorities told residents of four southern villages to evacuate to the town of Karystos, west of where the fire was advancing.
These latest fires come as Greece has been hit by a heatwave over the past week.
A relative respite from the heat Monday, with highs of 38 degrees Celsius forecast, will be followed by yet more high temperatures starting Tuesday. However, it should get significantly cooler on Thursday, with temperatures in the low-to mid-30s Celsius, the country’s Meteorological Service said Sunday night.
Source: Ekathimerini.
