The forest fire in Greece is “the largest forest fire ever recorded in the European Union (EU)”, which has already mobilized almost half of its air fleet to fight the fires, a spokesman for the European Commission advanced on Tuesday.
Eleven planes and a helicopter from the EU fleet were sent to help Greece fight the fire north of the city of Alexandroupoli, along with 407 firefighters, spokesman Balazs Ujvari said.
The EU civil protection service said the fire had already burned more than 810 square kilometres, an area larger than New York City.
“This fire is the biggest in the EU since 2000, the year in which the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) started recording data,” the service said.
Greek firefighters told AFP the fire was “still out of control” in northeastern Greece’s Dadia national park, a major sanctuary for birds of prey.
Since it started on August 19, the fire has already claimed the lives of 20 people, 18 of whom are migrants, whose bodies were found in a region bordering Turkey that is a frequent entry point.
The EU currently relies on a fleet of 28 aircraft (24 water-dropping planes and four helicopters) provided by member countries to help fight fires in the bloc and its immediate neighbors.
The EU is working on the creation of an EU-funded 12-aircraft autonomous air wing, which will be fully operational by 2030.
“We know that the fires are getting more serious,” Ujvari said.
“If we look at the figures of the last few years, we see that the trends are not necessarily favourable, which naturally requires more capacities at Member State level.
“Greece has been affected by numerous fires this summer, which the government attributes to climate change.” The EU air deployment underscores the “commitment to swift and effective collective action in times of crisis”, said EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic.
Source: TSF
