The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, predicted this Thursday that the areas burned this summer by the forest fires that affect the country will exceed 150,000 hectares, most of them in Dadia, in the north.
The Greek government’s estimate was conveyed by the Prime Minister during a debate in the Athens Parliament on the fires. The fire currently burning in the forest of Dadia National Park is the largest forest fire recorded in the European Union since the European Forest Fire Information System began keeping records in 2000.
With no sign of abating, the fire had burned more than 81,000 hectares as of Tuesday, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service, the Earth observation component of the European Union’s space program, which uses satellite imagery. to provide data.
In the last few hours, the Greek authorities have reinforced the firefighting means in the northeast of the country, where the great fire has been active for 13 days.
Alerts have been issued today to the inhabitants of the Evros area to leave the places where they live again, and more than a hundred firefighters have been deployed in the affected region.
At this time, and with the latest reinforcements, there are 582 firefighters involved in the fight against the Evros fire, supported by ten planes and seven firefighting helicopters.
The aerial means were sent from nine European countries, according to the government fire department.
The fire started on August 19 and has already reached houses and forests, especially in Alexandroupoli, in the Evros region, near the border with Turkey.
Last week, this fire in the northeast of the country caused 20 of the 21 deaths caused by the wildfires in Greece.
Other people, including the two crew members of a firefighting plane, have lost their lives this year fighting forest fires in Greece.
The Greek deputies, in the Parliament of Athens, observed today a minute of silence for the victims, a moment that marked the parliamentary debate on the fires and the response of the State.
The parliamentary debate is still ongoing.
The causes of the large fires that occurred this year in Greece are still being investigated by the authorities.
In relation to minor fires, there are suspicions of arson that led to the arrest of several people.
Authorities also pointed to acts of negligence in various parts of the country.
Since the start of the fire that is still burning in Alexandroupoli and Evros, evacuation orders have been issued for thousands of people living in villages.
The main hospital in the city of Alexandroupolis was evacuated and most of the inhabitants were even allowed to return to their homes in recent days, a situation that may change as new danger alerts are issued today.
During the night, the inhabitants of two towns near the border with Turkey and a natural park were put on alert for a possible evacuation due to the severity registered on one of the fronts of the fire.
This summer, Greece has been hit by hundreds of wildfires across the country, with dozens of new fires breaking out every day.
The vast majority of fires are quickly extinguished before they spread.
In the 24 hours between Tuesday night and Wednesday, firefighters extinguished 81 fires, 47 of which were detected in that period, Greek firefighters reported today.
Firefighting forces have reached their limit, so Greece has asked other European countries for emergency help.
Hundreds of firefighters from Romania, France, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Albania, Slovakia and Serbia are helping to fight the fires in Greece, along with 12 aerial assets from Germany, Sweden, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France and Spain.
Source: TSF
