![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() “For the twelfth day, under extreme conditions of heat and strong winds, we are fighting nonstop on dozens of forest fire fronts. On Rhodes, desperate residents, many with wet towels around their necks to stave off the scorching heat, used shovels to beat back flames approaching their homes, while firefighting planes and helicopters resumed water drops at first light. “On the other fronts we have to deal with many cases of the fire flaring up again,” Ioannis Artopios said.įour villages on Rhodes were ordered evacuated on Tuesday as a fire burning for eight days continued to move inland, torching mountainous forest areas, including a part of a nature reserve.Īnother five evacuations were ordered on Corfu, and one overnight on Evia. It was unclear whether he had been killed by the fire or had died of other causes before it broke out.Ī fire service spokesman said the worst blazes on Tuesday were on the southeastern island of Rhodes and the northwestern island of Corfu - both which are popular tourist destinations. Greek police said a burnt body believed to belong to a sheep farmer who had been missing since Sunday in southern Evia - a day before the fire broke out there - was found on Tuesday. Several people have been arrested or fined across Greece in recent days for accidentally starting fires.ĮU officials have blamed climate change for the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires across the European continent, noting that 2022 was the second-worst year for wildfire damage on record after 2017. It’s still unclear how they started, although tinder-dry conditions amid the summer heat mean the slightest spark can trigger a blaze that will spread fast if not quickly quenched. “They proved how hazardous their daily missions in extinguishing fires are … In their memory, we continue the war against the destructive forces of nature.”Ī third successive heat wave in Greece pushed temperatures back above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across parts of the country Tuesday amid a string of evacuations from fires that have raged out of control for days, whipped on by strong winds. “They offered their lives to save lives,” Mitsotakis said of the pilots. ![]()
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