A helicopter drops water on flames in Sofiana village, about 142 kilometers (88 miles) west of Athens, Greece (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Some 570 firefighters were working Wednesday, along with 160 fire trucks and 11 aircraft. These include three from Italy and Croatia, sent after Greece requested help from its fellow European Union members.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said firefighters had been hampered in their initial response by the difficult terrain and poor road network.
“During the first, crucial stage of the fire, firetrucks had great difficulty approaching (the blaze) because of the narrow roads,” he said.
“The many ravines and the gale-force winds blowing that day greatly impeded” the firefighting effort, Mr Marinakis added.
More than half a dozen villages were ordered evacuated as a precaution between Sunday and Tuesday, although firefighters were able to keep the flames at bay outside them. Several outlying buildings have reportedly been damaged, and a historic church in the area was gutted.
Greece, like other southern European countries, suffers from devastating, and often deadly, forest fires every summer.
This year, a combination of climate change-related drought, high spring temperatures and summer heatwaves has led to a record of more than 4,500 blazes so far.
Many broke out outside the three summer months when fires are normally expected.
Also Wednesday, the fire service said another forest fire broke out in the Peloponnese west of Corinthia, in the mountainous Kalavryta area.
More than 40 firefighters and four aircraft were battling the blaze.
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Publish date : 2024-10-02 04:21:00
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