Greece seeks EU support in wildfires battles
Shafaq News – Athens
On Saturday, Greece called for urgent European Union assistance as wildfires ravage multiple regions, with some of the worst blazes erupting just north of the capital, Athens.
The fire brigade reported that 52 fires had broken out over the past 24 hours, of which 44 were brought under control. However, strong winds and extreme temperatures have complicated containment efforts, particularly in the Attica region near Athens and in parts of the Peloponnese peninsula.
According to fire brigade spokesman Vasileios Vathrakogiannis, emergency evacuations were carried out in residential areas threatened by advancing flames, and several homes have been destroyed.
The latest fires come nearly a week into a punishing heatwave that has sent temperatures soaring beyond 45°C. The National Observatory in Athens recorded a peak of 45.8°C on Friday in Messinia, while Saturday brought highs of 45.2°C in Amfilohia, in western Greece.
Last month, wildfires on the northern Aegean Island of Chios burned over 4,700 hectares of land. In early July, a separate blaze on the island of Crete forced the evacuation of 5,000 tourists.
Greece has experienced increasingly intense wildfire seasons in recent years. According to France 24, 2023 marked the most destructive year on record, with 20 deaths and nearly 175,000 hectares lost to fire.
