Devastating fires raging in Greece and Turkey begin to subside

The battle against the fires that have devastated for six consecutive days thousands of hectares and displaced thousands of people in Turkey and Greece improves this Sunday on almost all fronts, to With the exception of the Greek island of Evia, where the inhabitants ask instead of evacuations more means to fight against the llas, which devour their homes. Turkish authorities report that they have checked 217 of the 223 fires reported since the middle of last week.

In Grevia, although the authorities have not yet officially brought them under control, extinction efforts have managed to significantly reduce some of the worst projectors, like those of the northern suburbs of Athens, Elis, in the Peloponnese, and Phocis, in the center of the country.

The flames gave way to devastating images, with the reduction in ashes of still innumerable dwellings, will begin tomorrow the official assessment of the disaster, industrial and commercial premises, and thousands of hectares of forest, including one of the last green lungs of the capital.

In Athens, firefighters announced this morning that there are only a few small epidemics that reappear sporadically and the reduction in the force of the winds today should allow full control of the situation. While, some 500 police are patrolling the affected areas, parks and hills of the region to prevent further fires.

Yet the nightmare continues in Euboea, Greece’s second largest island, where overnight more people had to be evacuated, leaving nearly 50 dead in the flames in recent days.

Yannis Kotzias, Mayor of Istiea, a town in northern Evia to which the flames have been approaching since yesterday and to which many evacuees from more modest populations have been taken, was complained to local media about were abandoned by the state and assured that it is practically the inhabitants who did not obey the evacuation orders who have so far saved the area from the fire.

The Greek government appreciated the solidarity received from abroad. Spain sent an amphibious plane, Cyprus two planes and 40 firefighters, France 3 Canadair planes and 83 firefighters, Croatia one plane, Sweden two planes, Switzerland three helicopters, Egypt two helicopters, Romania 108 firefighters and 21 vehicles, Ukraine 100 ground personnel and Israel 16 firefighters.

In addition, the Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection Nikos Jardaliás announced last night that the arrival of 100 other soldiers and 30 French vehicles is still expected, two infantry divisions with 216 members and 41 German vehicles, 143 firefighters and 46 Polish vehicles, 72 people and 25 Slovak vehicles, 43 firefighters and 11 Austrian vehicles, 35 people and 14 Czech vehicles, 21 British firefighters, 69 people and 5 vehicles from Qatar and 42 firefighters from Kuwait.

TURKEY CONTROLLED 217 FIRES AND CONTINUES TO FIGHT 6

Turkish authorities have already contained 217 forest fires spread across the country, While the others six are still out of control, of the 223 that were reported in the middle of last week.

Most of the fires have been contained thanks to the efforts of Turkish extinguishing teams, although the flames continue to ravage the soil of Koycegiz, Kavaklidere, Milas, Yatagan and Cinema, said Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir. Pakdemirli, takes over the Anatolia news agency.

One of the points of greatest concern is the Mugla area, where extinction efforts are focused, in particular, on a thermal power plant and tourist areas, where up to 15 fires have been declared.

“We have been fight fires with 16 planes, nine drones, 57 helicopters, one unmanned helicopter, 850 ships and tankers and 150 engineering vehicles, as well as 5,250 forestry personnelPakdemirli added.

For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu; the Minister of Environment and Urbanization, Murat Kurum; and the Minister of Infrastructure, Adil Karaismailoglu, visited the areas most affected by the fires.

Later, these same leaders held a private meeting with different representatives of the areas affected by the fire to learn about their most urgent needs.

It is estimated that at least 107 houses were damaged by fires in Alanya, in the southern province of Antalya, as the mayor, Adem Murat Yucel, explained in a statement.

In this sense, the governor of Bodrum district, Bekir Yilmaz, in the southwestern province of Mugla, reported that a initial aid of approximately 35,000 Turkish liras, or nearly 4,120 dollars, per household to citizens affected by the flames.

At the moment, it is estimated that they have dead at least eight peopleaccording to official figures, since the fires started in southern and southwestern Turkey on July 28.

Turkey is going through an almost unprecedented wave of fires: compared to the average of 17,578 hectares burned between January 1 and August 5 in the years 2008 to 2020, this year’s size is nine times the average, with 157,482 hectares razed, according to figures from the Istanbul Forestry Institute, collected by the newspaper ‘Hurriyet’.

(with information from EFE and EP)

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