Greece’s wildfires: In tears and despair, thousands are evacuated

Greece celebrates 11 days fighting the giant forest fires that have destroyed at least 35,000 hectares in their wake.And In the midst of one of the worst crises Greece has faced.

Fire shoots quickly down the mountain and devours the first houses. The siren sounds next to the order to leave the village of Al-Jawf, On the Greek island of Euboea.

“I don’t want, I don’t want to,” a woman collapses on the entrance staircase repeating between sobs.

The dramatic images correspond to the already 11 days of giant fighting, as described by the Vice-Governor of Euboea.

Thousands have been evacuated from their homes in Greece

Thousands of desperate residents on the Greek island of Euboea observed on Sunday how their villages, lands and lives were ravaged by fire.On the twelfth day of the fires that destroyed forests in Greece and Turkey.

“The battle continues,” Greek Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said, declaring “another difficult night” for the firefighters.

While most fires in Turkey were under control on Sunday, The fire on the island of Euboea, the second largest in Greece, continues to cause serious concern.

“We have seen fires, but this situation is unprecedented,” Nikos Papayano, one of Goff’s neighbours, announced.

Flame prey for six days, This spit of land between Attica and the Aegean Sea provided a horrific panorama. Residents on the roads sprayed their lands with water, while the fires continued to devour the forested areas.

Greece and Turkey, two neighboring countries that have been hit by the worst heat wave in decades, have been battling fires for nearly two weeks. Experts have linked rising temperatures to climate change.

So far, two people have died in Greece and eight in Turkey, and dozens have been hospitalized.

At the gates of Athens, Greek firefighters reported that the blaze that destroyed dozens of homes had subsided this Sunday. But Hardelis cautioned that “the risk of reactivation is high”.

Plane crash during fires

A helicopter has evacuated an injured firefighter in northern Athens who was trying to put out a re-running light bulb. On the Ionian island of Zante, A pilot plane crashed while putting out a small fire, although its pilot disembarked safely.

On both sides of the Aegean, firefighters continued to fight the flames, in the Turkish Mugla region and in the Greek Peloponnese peninsula, where the situation stabilized on Sunday.

The main nightmare of the Greek firefighters is a vast mountain island yopia, upholstered with pine trees and very popular among local and foreign tourists.

“How long will this drama last?” asked former leftist prime minister Alexis Tsipras. , criticizing the lack of air and land resources.

“The forces are not enough”, Giorgos Kilitzidis, Deputy Governor of Euboea confirmed. “The situation at the moment is critical,” he said.

According to him, lThe fires have gutted at least 35,000 hectares and hundreds of homes.

Despite the rugged terrain, nearly half a thousand firefighters continued their fierce battle against the flames in the north of the island, which blazed from east to west, enveloped in a thick cloud of smoke and covered in a rain of ash.

But because of the direction of the wind, Smoke and lack of visibility Greek Deputy Minister Nikos Hardalias considered it “difficult” to use aerial means.

The country received ground and air reinforcements from many countries such as Ukraine, Romania and France.

“In God’s Hands”

The fire front will cover about 30 km, according to the governor of the region on Saturday Euboea region, Fanis Spanos.

“The front is too big. We are trying to save the city, but the means are not enough,” said Nikos Papayano, a resident of Jouf. “This is exciting. “We will all end up at sea,” he added.

About 2,000 residents of the island were evacuated and moved to hotels.

On Pefki Beach, From where 350 residents were evacuated on Sunday, ferries and military ships were waiting to transport the elderly and people with disabilities.

As the flames spread towards the town of Istiaia and devour homes and pine forests, Iraklis, a resident of the area, told Open TV that “40,000 people will live like zombies in the coming years due to the devastation in the area.”

“In the next 40 years, we will have no work, and in the winter we will sink under water without forests to protect us,” said Yiannis Slimes, a desperate resident of Govs.

“We are in the hands of God. The state is absent. If people leave, the towns will surely burn,” the 26-year-old added.

The fires have destroyed more than 56 thousand hectares in the past 10 days in Greece, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). About 1,700 hectares burned, on average, in the same period between 2008 and 2020.