Greece Battles Wildfires in Evros and Paros Regions
Greek firefighters battled multiple blazes Tuesday while authorities issued high-risk warnings for Wednesday as the Mediterranean nation faces another dangerous fire season.
Ground teams and water-dropping helicopters worked to contain a blaze that swept through agricultural land near the village of Lavara in the Evros region of northeastern Greece, close to the Turkish border, according to Kathimerini (EN).
Twenty-six firefighters supported by seven fire engines and at least one helicopter conducted operations to suppress the farmland fire. No structural damage or injuries were immediately reported, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
In a separate incident on Tuesday, emergency services deployed three water-dropping aircraft to assist ground forces battling a brush fire at Kambi on the popular resort island of Paros in the Cyclades island chain.
Local authorities ordered evacuations of multiple settlements on Paros as the fire spread. At 2:42 p.m., residents of Agios Charalambos, Kambi, Bougados and Aneratzia received instructions to evacuate to Aliki in the southern part of the island. A subsequent evacuation order was issued to Kamari residents at 3:28 p.m.
High Wildfire Risk Forecast
Greek civil protection authorities have warned that several regions face elevated wildfire danger on Wednesday, as Kathimerini (EN) reports. The southern island of Crete and the eastern Aegean islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Ikaria and Psara are under Category 4 alert—the second-highest level on Greece’s five-tier risk scale.
Additional areas rated at Category 3 risk include the Greater Athens region, the island of Evia, the northeastern Peloponnese, and the Cyclades and Dodecanese island groups.
The incidents come as Greece braces for what could be another challenging wildfire season, with hot, dry conditions creating prime conditions for rapid fire spread across the country’s rugged terrain and island communities.
With information from Kathimerini (EN)
