Greece Reinforces Firefighting Forces To Tackle Massive Blaze In The Country’s Northeast

THEATRE, Greece — Greece officials increased firefighting operations in the country’s northeastern region on Monday, where a major catastrophic wildfire was burning for the tenth day and showed no signs of abating.

The Alexandroupolis and Evros fires near the Turkish border were responsible for 20 of Greece’s 21 wildfire-related deaths last week.

The fire department reported that 474 firefighters were battling the flames with the help of 100 vehicles, seven planes, and two helicopters. Several European countries provided reinforcements to the army.

Authorities are investigating what caused the fire, which has devastated wide swaths of forest, burnt homes, and forced the evacuation of thousands over the last week. The bodies of 18 persons were discovered in an area near the city of Alexandroupolis last Tuesday, with one body discovered the day before in a woodland in the region and another discovered on Thursday.

The bodies are thought to be migrants who recently crossed the adjacent Turkish border. Greece’s Disaster Victim Identification Unit has been launched to identify the remains. Last week, a man perished in a separate fire in central Greece, allegedly while attempting to save his livestock from encroaching flames.

According to the European Union’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service, the wildfire has charred more than 77,000 hectares (190,000 acres) of land, making it one of the largest single fires to strike a European country.

Greece officials increased firefighting operations in the country’s northeastern region on Monday.

Copernicus is the Earth observation component of the EU space programme that uses satellite pictures to give mapping data.

Another huge fire raging for days on Mount Parnitha on the northern outskirts of Athens appeared to be substantially improved by Monday, though it was still not officially under control. According to the fire brigade, 260 firefighters were still fighting flare-ups in the fire, which had burnt residences and penetrated a national park, one of the remaining green spaces close to the Greek capital.

Over the past week, Greece has been plagued by daily outbreaks of hundreds of fires as gale-force winds and hot, dry summer conditions combined to whip up flames and impede firefighting attempts.

On Sunday, firefighters were combating 105 wildfires around the country, with 46 breaking out in the 24 hours between Saturday evening and Sunday evening, according to the fire service.

Arson has been suspected in some of the fires, and numerous persons have been arrested.

Wildfire prevention restrictions are in effect in Greece from the beginning of May to the end of October, restricting activities such as burning dried vegetation and using outdoor barbecues.

According to government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis, by Friday, fire department officers had arrested 163 people on fire-related offenses since the start of the fire prevention season, including 118 for negligence and 24 for deliberate arson. He claimed that the police had made another 18 arrests.

With its firefighting forces stretched to the breaking point, Greece has requested assistance from neighboring European countries. Germany, Sweden, Croatia, and Cyprus have supplied planes, while hundreds of Romanian, French, Czech, Bulgarian, Albanian, Slovak, and Serb firefighters are on the ground.

SOURCE – (AP)