Today, Tuesday, Greek firefighting teams continue to fight the fires that broke out on Monday in forests east of the capital, Athens, due to the heat wave hitting the country, while Turkey announced control of forest fires in the state of Hatay.
Greek authorities issued evacuation orders for at least 6 coastal communities as two massive fires approached summer resort towns and winds gusted up to 70 kilometers per hour.
The Greek army, special police forces and volunteer rescuers picked up pensioners stuck in their homes, rescued horses from a stable, and helped monks flee from a monastery that was threatened by fire.
The spokesman for the fire brigade, Yannis Artobios, explained that the winds and temperatures contributed to the aggravation of the situation in the region, stressing that 23 firefighting planes and helicopters were deployed on Tuesday morning to put out the fires.
And he added, “Most of the fires in the greater Athens area have been partially controlled, but there are still two fires that broke out 10 and 80 kilometers west of Athens on Monday, which raise concerns.”
For his part, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the top priority now is to protect lives and, later, property and the environment.
After a rainy and relatively cold spring, these are the first major forest fires in Greece this year.
The Civil Defense Department had warned at the beginning of the week that after days of recording temperatures above 40 degrees and a prolonged period of drought, the risk of forest fires would be very high.
arrogant fire
In neighboring Turkey, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumakli announced, on Tuesday, the control of the forest fire that broke out on Sunday in the Belin region of Hatay state.
“The Balin forest fire has been brought under control in Hatay state (south), and work is underway to cool the area,” Yumekli said in a tweet on Twitter.
The minister thanked the rescue teams for their great efforts in putting out the fire, and said, “The green homeland is your trust.”
On Sunday, a bushfire broke out in the Blaine region as a result of two people setting fire to a cane field during cleaning work, causing the fire to spread to the forests.
The Turkish security forces arrested the two persons responsible for the outbreak of the fire and a third suspected person.
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2023-07-18 14:35:33
