Forest fires in southern Europe: Flames destroy villages and forests

The consequences of the heat wave in southern Europe are dramatic. Fires have been raging in Turkey, Greece and Italy for weeks. Greece’s Prime Minister Mitsotakis sees the effects of climate change in this.

Record temperatures of more than 40 degrees, persistent drought and strong winds have been fueling the devastating forest fires in southern Europe for days. Entire regions had to be evacuated. The fires have already claimed several lives. Thousands of people had to leave their houses, animals and all their belongings behind.

Greece: fire threatens residential areas

Dozens of large-scale fires continue to blaze in Greece. According to official information, two people have been killed in the fire so far; there are numerous injuries.

The situation is currently particularly threatening on the island of Evia, the second largest Greek island after Crete. It is close to the mainland, northeast of Athens. Huge forest areas are on fire there. During the night, the fire brigade in the suburb of Monokaria of the small town of Istiea fought to prevent it from spreading to the city with its around 7,000 inhabitants, as the ANA news agency reported.

Even during the day, fire-fighting planes and helicopters would have “serious difficulties” because of the thick smoke and very limited visibility, said Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias. Dozens of smaller towns were gradually evacuated. Coast guards and private boats had taken 668 people from the island in a major operation, some directly from the beach because there was no other way out.

Breathe a sigh of relief near Athens – fear in the Peloponnese

In Athens, too, the weather station repeatedly warned of poor air quality: Because of the heavy smoke, the whole of Athens stank, ashes continue to fall. But in the north of the capital, the situation continued to ease over the weekend. The fire brigade and volunteers as well as the military could now extinguish smaller sources of fire, said an officer of the fire brigade on the state radio.

But mayors on the Peloponnese peninsula are calling for more help from the air. They criticized the fact that the decision-makers in Athens had used more fire-fighting planes in the area of ​​the Greek capital in the past two days.

The most dangerous fire raged in the Peloponnese south of the small town of Megalopolis. Another fire spread from the west of the island near Olympia into the densely forested mountainous Arcadia in the interior of the peninsula.

Help from 20 nations

More than a thousand firefighters are trying to keep the flames away from residential areas in the Greek fire areas. They are supported by volunteers and soldiers.

More and more foreign helpers are also supporting the Greek forces. The list of the Greek civil defense includes 20 nations so far. While some countries such as Romania, Israel, Kuwait, Serbia, Ukraine and Moldova sent fire fighters, others provided additional support with fire-fighting planes and helicopters – including France, Croatia, Sweden, Spain and Egypt. Help is also on the way from Germany – but the 221 rescue workers are not expected to be ready until Thursday.

The Greek Civil Defense has set up an SMS alert system for residents and vacationers across the country. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during a visit to the fire areas last week: “If some people are still wondering whether climate change is real, come here.”

Eight fatalities in Turkey

Although the flames continue to rage in Turkey, the situation in the affected coastal regions has eased somewhat, according to the local authorities. So far, eight people have died in the forest fires. Among them is a volunteer who brought water to the fire fighters in Marmaris.

According to the authorities, at least 36,000 people had to leave their homes in Mugla province, where the tourist strongholds of Bodrum and Marmaris are located. Six other districts were cleared.

Fire breaks to protect power plants

Fire breaks were excavated around the Yeniköy power station to protect it. A few days earlier, the flames had threatened the Kemerköy coal-fired power station and could only be stopped immediately in front of the plant.

The spokesman for the badly affected municipality of Milas, Umut Öztürk, said that the fires in the region are currently largely under control. “The emergency services are in the process of cooling the area down.” Forest Minister Bekir Pakdemirli had spoken of five uncontrolled fires in the south-west Turkish province of Mugla on Sunday evening, but gave the all-clear for residential areas.

Expert: Risk not averted

In view of the ongoing heat wave and drought, however, the risk of fire has not yet been banned. “There is a risk of further fires by October,” warned Doganay Tolunay, a forest engineer at Istanbul University.

The fire has already left as much destruction as it has since 1946, he said. At that time, 1650 square kilometers of forest area were burned in Turkey. In the current fires, an estimated 1,500 square kilometers of land were destroyed – an area almost three times the size of Lake Constance.

Since the fires started about two weeks ago, the opposition has been criticizing the government’s crisis management, for example that initially there were no operational fire-fighting aircraft of their own. The government rejects the criticism. In the meantime, according to official information, there was a fire in 47 of 81 provinces. More than 200 fires were brought under control. The cause of the fire is being investigated further.

Villages on the Italian Adriatic coast threatened

In Italy, hundreds of people were evacuated because of fires on the Adriatic coast. In the municipality of Campomarino, more than 400 people have been removed from their homes. The authorities evacuated hotels, campsites and houses in the district of Campomarino Lido by the sea. On a video of the fire brigade, you could see how thick smoke ran through the streets and flames eroded through bushes to a café. At the beginning of the week, the next heat wave threatens the entire region with over 40 degrees.

The Italian civil protection authority also sent reinforcements to the region of Calabria, which was badly affected by forest fires. There it burned, among other things, in the Aspromonte National Park.