Northern Greece battles largest wildfire in history claims 20 lives

Friday, September 1, 2023

A wildfire in the northeastern region of Evros, Europe’s deadliest blaze this summer, continued to burn for the 13th day on Thursday after killing at least 20 people, destroying homes and livelihoods and scorching lush forests.

Hundreds of firefighters continued to battle the massive Evros blaze on Thursday, after further overnight evacuations.

The wildfires raging in northern Greece are causing unprecedented devastation. Nature reserves have gone up in flames and livelihoods have been destroyed.

The fire that started Aug. 19 part of a busy fire season for Greece has destroyed vast tracts of forest and burnt homes, and has been blamed for the deaths of 20 migrants whose bodies were found last week in the area, which is near the border with Turkey.

Summer wildfires are common in the Mediterranean nation but the government has said that extremely dry, windy and hot conditions that scientists link to climate change have made them worse this year, forcing thousands of evacuations.

There are also plans to install temperature sensors at archaeological sites and in high-risk forests, while some 500 forest scientists and 1,000 more firefighters will be hired soon, Mitsotakis said.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said at least 30% of Greece’s protected Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest had been lost.

Mitsotakis said he would ask European experts to assess the causes of the fire and suggest ways to help the forest grow back.

Greece is one of the preferred entry routes into the European Union for people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia fleeing conflict and poverty.

Those crossing the country’s land border with Turkey often use mountain and forest trails to evade authorities and head west to the main northern city of Thessaloniki.

Thousands of people in the Alexandroupolis and Evros area have been issued evacuation orders since the fire there began, though the vast majority have been allowed back.

For the second consecutive day Thursday, residents of a small town near the border with Turkey were put on overnight alert for potential evacuation as one of the fire fronts flared up.

The blaze, now burning deep in the forest in the Dadia national park, is the largest single wildfire recorded in the European Union since it started keeping records in 2000.

More than 81,000 hectares (200,000 acres) have been burned, according to the EU.

Greece has been stricken by hundreds of wildfires this summer, with dozens of new blazes breaking out each day. The vast majority are extinguished quickly.

Seeing its firefighting forces stretched to the limit, Greece has called on other European countries for help.

Hundreds of firefighters from Romania, France, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Albania, Slovakia and Serbia have helped battle the blazes, along with 12 aircraft from Germany, Sweden, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France and Spain.

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