Greece: a violent fire of “biblical proportions” advances on the island of Euboea

Thousands of desperate inhabitants of the island of Euboea, located in Greece, observed in the early morning hours of Monday, August 9 how fire would scale their villages, their lands and claim victims, on the twelfth day of the fires that ravaged the forests.

“The battle continues”, said Greek Deputy Minister of Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias, who also predicted a “difficult day” for the firefighters. While in Turkey the fire was under control, the same flames are worrying on the Greek island.

“The armed forces, the coast guard and the Greek police are making superhuman efforts, on multiple fronts, to preserve lives and property in the face of the impending advance“he added hard alias at a press conference.

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“We have experienced fires, but this situation is unheard of before”said Nikos Papaioannou, a neighbor of Gouves. Prey of fire less than six days ago, this tongue of land located between Attica and the Aegean Sea presented an apocalyptic image.

On the roads neighbors sprayed their lands with water, while flames continued to consume the wooded areas. Greece and Turkey, hit by the worst heat wave in decades, have been battling the fires for nearly two weeks in total.

In Evia, thousands of people were evacuated, especially in the northern area, where the flames surrounded the populations of the region and forced citizens to leave their homes and transfer by boat to mainland Greece.

In Galatsona and Geraki, among the most affected populations, around 10 p.m. (local time), the fire escalated and the neighbors themselves had to act to prevent the flames from reaching residential areas.

During the day, A total of 23 people were rescued at various beaches on the island and a firefighting plane crashed, an accident that left no victims.. In other areas, the fires were brought under control without major problems.

Until Monday August 9 a volunteer firefighter has died as the country’s emergency teams and the help of a long list of European countries like Spain, France or the United Kingdom continue to try to put out the fire.

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Flames razed over 56,000 hectares of land, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, especially in the big fires in Euboea and three others in the southern Peloponnese region.

However, the main nightmare of firefighters remains the huge mountainous island of Evia, covered with pine trees and very popular with domestic and foreign tourists. “Forces are not enough”, underlined Lieutenant Governor Giorgos Kelaitzidis.

“The situation at the moment is critical”, he stressed. According to Kelaitzidis, the flames would have devoured at least 35,000 hectares on the island alone and hundreds of houses, causing irreversible damage to the homes of its inhabitants.

“In the next 40 years we will have no work and in winter we will drown under water, without forests to protect us”said Yannis Selimis, another resident of Gouves, in despair. “We are in the hands of God. The state is absent”he added.

“In the name of the Greek people, I would like to express our sincere thanks to all the countries that sent assistance and resources to help fight the fires ”, thanked Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the last hours.

JFG