The Greek firefighters fought against the flames, on Thursday, July 3, in the southeast of the island of Crete, which led to evacuation as a caution of about 5,000 people, mainly tourists, according to a hotel representative in the region. In neighboring Türkiye, two fires were also triggered in the tourist province of Izmir.
In Crete, one of the main tourist destinations in Greece, the fire that caused Wednesday in Brushwoods pushed the authorities to evacuate “3,000 tourists and 2,000 inhabitants at night from Wednesday to Thursday,” he assured the president of the Hotel Union in the region, Yorgos Tzarakis, A AFP.
“Six hotels and many rooms rented by tourists have been evacuated” in the region around the coastal city of Irapetra, according to him. “Most tourists have been transferred to the north of the island,” added the greatest in Greece, joined by phone.
Another fire on the outskirts of Athens
On Thursday afternoon, another fire broke out about thirty kilometers from Athens, near Rafina, Seaside Resort and Active Port, especially for transfers for certain tourist islands. The main road to Athens was blocked in traffic, and according to the public television channel, ERT, the port authorities have banned that a ferry accept.
“An emergency message for the evacuation” of locations near the fire was sent to mobile phones, Kostas Tsigas, a fire department, also said in ERT. Ten planes were deployed to combat the fire, he said. In neighboring Turkey, two fires have devastated forests since Wednesday night on both sides of the city of Izmir, driven by changing winds of more than 85 km/h that complicate the work of firefighters, according to local officials.
In Crete, according to Yorgos Tzakis, the damage is important in the region of the city of Irapetra, and particularly in Agia Fotia, where “the entire ecosystem was burned and a tavern by the sea.” Athens reinforcements have been sent to help local firefighters whose task is difficult due to the intensity of winds that blow in the region. Some 270 firefighters, 10 helicopters and drones are fighting the flames, said Vassilia Vathrakoyannis, a fire spokesperson.
The fight against difficult flames in damaged terrain
“There are still many disparate fronts, brush wood and fire burns crops, the wind is very strong up to 9 Beaufort,” said this spokesman. The fight against fire becomes particularly difficult for the accidental and arid terrain in this part of the largest island in Greece. According to the media, houses and cultures, especially greenhouses, have been damaged in this region producing vegetables and fruits.
In addition to agriculture, which has 23,000 inhabitants, it is a coastal complex. As in the rest of the island, the tourist season is in full swing. The month of July is “the hottest summer in summer and the fire risk is still very strong,” said the spokesman for Greek firefighters. Until now, Greece has been saved by the wave wave that hits part of Europe, in particular Spain, Portugal and France.
But from this weekend, temperatures will increase again and reach up to 43 ° C in certain regions, according to the time forecast for the ERT channel. Fire risk is also very high on Friday in several regions of Greece. Located in southeastern Europe in the Mediterranean, Greece is particularly vulnerable to fires every summer, fed by strong winds, drought and high temperatures. In 2024, Greece experienced his most popular summer.
About 45,000 hectares had been burned, according to WWF Greece and the Athens National Observatory. But 2023 remains the most destructive year in terms of burned area with almost 175,000 hectares that went to smoke and 20 dead. Then, the country was beaten by prolonged heat waves with temperatures that reach 46 ° C locally.
Source: BFM TV
