Forest fire in Greece is ‘the largest ever recorded in the EU’

The forest fire in Greece is “the largest ever recorded in the European Union”, mobilizing nearly half of the fire brigade’s air wing to fight the blaze, European Commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari said on Tuesday.

The European Union (EU) Emergency Response Coordination Center (ECRC) has mobilized 11 aircraft and a helicopter from the community reserve to help fight Greece’s wildfires, the largest since 2000. which hit the Dadia National Park, north of the city of Alexandroupoli, along with 407 firefighters.

Greek firefighters told AFP “the fire is still not under control” in the forest reserve, an important refuge for birds of prey. It destroys a front of almost 10 kilometers.

More than 81,000 hectares have burned so far in the Greek region of Alexandroupolis, the largest area since 2000 in the EU, when the European Forest Fire Information System was created.

Since August 20, when Greece activated the mechanism for the second time this summer, 11 firefighting aircraft based in Germany, Cyprus, Croatia, Spain, France and Sweden have been deployed, as well as a Blackhawk helicopter deployed to the Czech Republic and 407 firefighters. and 62 vehicles from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Slovakia, France, Czech Republic, Romania and Serbia.

The EU currently uses a fleet of 28 aircraft – 24 water evacuation planes and four helicopters – provided by member states to help fight fires in the community bloc and neighboring countries.

The EU is working to establish an autonomous air wing with 12 aircraft, which will be fully operational by 2030. ‘We know that the fires are getting more serious’ noted Ujvari.

“Looking at the annual figures of recent years, we see trends that are not necessarily favorable, and obviously require more capacity at Member State level,” he defended.

Greece has been ravaged by numerous fires this summer, which the government says are due to climate change. The EU’s air mobilization “underscores our commitment to swift and effective collective action in times of crisis,” said EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic.