Firefighters have been battling wildfires close to the Greek capital Athens on Sunday night time because the nation braces for a difficult wildfire season and hovering summer time temperatures following the warmest winter and first warmth wave on report.
“Two extraordinarily harmful fires have been fought at the moment in Attica, which broke out in residential areas and unfold quickly on account of sturdy winds in Keratea and Stamata,” Minister for Local weather Disaster and Civil Safety Vassilis Kikilias stated late on Sunday.
Authorities have referred to as for the evacuation of at the very least eight areas round Athens as wildfires have destroyed properties and automobiles.
“As we speak is probably the most troublesome day the Fireplace Brigade has confronted on this yr’s firefighting season,” hearth division spokesman Vasilis Vathrakogiannis stated throughout an emergency press convention on Sunday.
Close to the town of Keratea, south of Athens, and to the north, in the neighborhood of Stamata, winds exceeding 60 kilometers per hour (37 mph) fanned the fires.
“The scenario could be very troublesome as a result of the sturdy winds proceed to blow. They haven’t subsided and the outbreaks are quite a few,” Dimitris Loukas, mayor of Lavreotiki, advised the Athens Information Company.
A hearth additionally broke out on Sunday at a recycling manufacturing unit in Ritsona, close to the island of Euboea, filling the sky with black smoke whereas tires and mattresses burned on the encircling land. Firefighters struggled to comprise the unfold of the fireplace to different factories within the industrial zone.
In his weekly Fb publish, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to as on Greeks to arrange for a tricky wildfire season.
“Powerful instances are nonetheless forward,” he stated. “Our effort is steady. On this effort, our allies are new instruments that construct a brand new tradition of prevention and duty.”
