A man was found dead in wildfires in the Boeotia region of central Greece on Monday, while Greek firefighters battle new blazes.
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“An old shepherd ran to his sheepfold to rescue his animals and was found dead, probably intoxicated from the smoke,” a fire department spokesman told AFP.
An evacuation notice was issued for tourists who were staying at a nearby beach. About 60 firefighters, supported by four planes, intervened on site.
Another fire broke out on the island of Euboea, where 42 firefighters and four planes are battling the blaze.
Photo: AFP
Two others are raging in northeastern Greece in the Rodopi and Kavala regions, while another has broken out in Aspropyrgos, a town west of Athens.
Fires are also raging in northeastern Greece, near the port city of Alexandroupolis, for the third day in a row.
Photo: AFP
Seven firefighters and one volunteer were injured and hospitalized.
The European Union has announced that it will send two fire-fighting aircraft based in Cyprus and a Romanian fire-fighting team as part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
“Intense and Violent”
“Greece already had by far the worst July since 2008 in terms of forest fires,” said EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic. “The fires are more intense and fierce, destroying more areas than before,” he added.
Civil protection authorities on Monday warned of “extreme” fire risks in the region of the capital Athens and other parts of southern Greece.
Photo: AFP
“We are confronted with extreme phenomena and we all have to adapt to this difficult situation,” said fire brigade spokesman Yannis Artopios in television announcements and called on the population to follow the authorities’ instructions.
Very hot and dry weather continues in Greece through Friday, increasing the risk of fire.
A dozen settlements were evacuated over the weekend and civil protection authorities urged residents to stay indoors because of the smoke.
On July 18, a fire fueled by high winds had devastated nearly 17,770 hectares south of Rhodes, a popular tourist island in the southeast Aegean Sea, in 10 days.
Around 20,000 people, mostly tourists, had to be evacuated. According to the Athens National Observatory, at the end of July the country experienced its worst heatwave since July, with temperatures exceeding 40°C.