Greek Wildfires Continue to Burn, Fire Crews Fight Against Harsh Winds

Five people were killed in wildfires that had been burning throughout Greece for two weeks before Greek fire personnel tried to put them out on Thursday.

Along with a fresh front that erupted on Wednesday in central Greece, hundreds of firemen supported by reinforcements from the European Union were battling to put out the fires on the Greek islands of Corfu, Evia, and Rhodes. Another fire that started early on Thursday near residences in the lush Kifissia neighborhood of Athens was quickly put out.

Since July 13, more than 600 wildfires have reportedly started around the nation, according to officials. On Thursday, there is an extremely high risk of fire in more than a dozen Greek districts, according to the civil protection ministry.

At the height of the busiest tourism season, tens of thousands of residents and visitors have been evacuated, including 20,000 people on Rhodes. On Wednesday, a deadly fire in the city’s industrial area in Volos claimed the lives of two people.

In a seaside region close to Volos, an old crippled lady was discovered dead inside her burned-out camper van, while a cattle farmer was slain while attempting to save his cows.

On Thursday, the industrial area was shut down out of caution. Early in the morning, six settlements and villages in the vicinity of the metropolis of around 140,000 inhabitants were evacuated, and others were put on alert. After a protracted heatwave, temperatures are anticipated to dip on Thursday, but near-gale gusts might make it more difficult to put out the flames.

The next days will be “difficult” because of the temperatures and the high winds it will bring, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned the cabinet on Wednesday.

According to civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias, “we are living through dangerous summer days, as are nine other Mediterranean countries,” in a broadcast speech on Wednesday.

Fire fronts of several kilometers have been caused by very high temperatures of above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and strong winds, according to Kikilias, who also noted that personnel were fighting under “inconceivable fatigue.”

The heatwaves that have affected areas of Europe and North America this month would have been almost unthinkable without human-caused climate change, according to scientists from the World Weather Attribution organization this week.

On Wednesday, the office of the EU crisis management commissioner said that more than 490 firemen and seven aircraft had been sent to various locations in Greece as part of the EU’s civil protection system.