Firefighters have fought to contain the remaining fire near Athens, Greece that killed a woman and pushed thousands of people out of their homes.
Spreading from Varnavas, 35 km from the capital, most fronts were eased after firefighters battled the wildfire since Sunday, August 11.
A European Union satellite mapping agency showed 104 square kilometres of land was devastated by the blaze, covering an area almost twice the size of Manhattan and blanketing Athens with a thick cloud of smoke.
Greece remains on high fire alert, with temperatures forecast to hit 40 degrees Celsius raising concerns over possible flare-ups.
The wildfire follows successive heat waves across southern Europe and low levels of rainfall this year.
Despite not knowing what started the fire, Greece has recently tightened penalties for arson. The government has also announced compensation and relief measures for those impacted by the disaster.
Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited an air base in Elefsina to “say a very big ‘thank you’” to the country’s aerial firefighters and acknowledge the international assistance from nine countries, including Turkey. Australian helicopters from McDermott Aviation also took part in the firefighting efforts.
According to Ekathimerini, Mitsotakis addressed the pilots saying, “I know how difficult it is to do what you do, especially for the [Canadair] CL-215 operators. I am fully aware of what it means to fly airplanes that have seen hard use… [And] how much work is done by the support technicians so that you can keep the aircraft in the air.”
“I’ve said it many times, we’re always striving to improve. We don’t expect the solution to just come out of thin air. Very important work needs to be done in the area of prevention,” he concluded.
Source: Ekathimerini.
