Combined international effort halts spread of wildfires across Greece

Hundreds of firefighters from across Europe and the Middle East worked alongside Greek colleagues in rugged terrain on Wednesday to contain flare-ups of the huge wildfires that ravaged Greece’s forests for a week, destroying homes and forcing evacuations.

The spread of the blazes has been largely halted, officials said, but fronts still burned on the large island of Evia and in Greece’s southern Peloponnese region.

The fires broke out last week as Greece had just experienced its worst and most protracted heat wave since 1987, leaving its forests tinder-dry. Other nearby nations such as Turkey and Italy also faced similar searing temperatures and quickly spreading fires, while Spain and Portugal were on alert for wildfires amid a heat wave forecast to last through Monday.

At the southern side of the Mediterranean Sea, wildfires in Algeria’s mountains have killed 65 people, including 28 soldiers sent in to help, and three days of national mourning begin on Thursday.

Worsening drought and heat – both linked to climate change – have also fuelled wildfires this summer in the Western US and in Russia’s northern Siberia region.

Scientists say there is little doubt that climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is driving extreme events.

Greece’s fire service said 900 firefighters, including teams from Poland, Romania, Cyprus, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovakia and Moldova, were working on Evia, Greece’s second-largest island which is linked to the mainland by a bridge.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke on the phone on Wednesday with top officials from Ukraine, Qatar and Romania to “warmly thank them” for their contributions. The three countries sent 340 firefighters and 24 vehicles in response to Greece’s appeal for help.

Evia’s rugged, forested northern part, with upland villages and small seaside resorts, has suffered the greatest damage from this month’s blazes, with an estimated 123,000 acres lost, together with dozens of homes.

Retiree Maria Roga said that although her house in Evia’s village of Pefki was saved at the last moment from flames that burned a neighbouring home, she still worries about flare-ups.

“I’m still afraid. I’m afraid,” she told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “[But] I can’t complain, I am very grateful, I am one of the lucky ones.” Though most of Pefki’s homes are intact, the village — whose name means pine tree — is now surrounded by rank upon rank of blackened trees.

Some 600 firefighters from Greece, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, France and Germany were deployed on Wednesday near ancient Olympia and in Arcadia in the Peloponnese, assisted by 14 water-dropping aircraft and volunteers.

A massive fire that broke out last week north of Athens has been limited to a section of a national park on Mount Parnitha, with mostly ground forces trying to put it out with the help of a helicopter. Firefighters from France, Qatar, Kuwait and Israel were deployed there.

Despite the massive destruction to forests, wildlife and livestock — and homes, although official estimates are not yet available — Greek authorities’ core policy of evacuating villages to protect extensive loss of life has paid off: One volunteer firefight died last week after being struck by a falling electricity pole, and two have been admitted to hospital in serious condition with burns.

A wildfire killed 102 people near Athens in 2018, and more than 80 died in a series of blazes in southern Greece in 2007.

The health ministry said on Wednesday that another three firefighters required treatment for respiratory problems and light burns suffered in the Arcadia fire.

Nevertheless, some local officials and residents have criticised the evacuation policy, saying that while it saved lives it sent away able-bodied villagers who could have helped firefighters battle the flames. Others have complained that water-dropping planes and even ground forces were absent at crucial times.

On the outskirts of Kamatriades on Evia on Tuesday, residents cutting firebreaks through the forest said they had received no help in protecting their village.

“We need some help here, we need some help. We are fighting alone, [for] seven days now,” said Dimitris Stefanidakis.

Officials say they used all means available against what Greece’s civil protection chief described as the fire service’s biggest-ever challenge. In eight days, authorities had to deal with 586 fires across the country, while billowing smoke often reduced visibility so much that waterbombing aircraft couldn’t be deployed.

The causes of the blazes are under investigation, and authorities say that in at least one major blaze arson seems likely. Several people have been arrested in different parts of the country and charged with causing fires, in some cases intentionally.

The government has pledged a large compensation and reforestation programme.

Big wildfires were also burning in Italy, which claimed two more lives on Wednesday — bringing the overall toll this month to four.

In Turkey, firefighters worked to early Wednesday to extinguish a wildfire in the southwest Mugla province, which runs along the Aegean Sea. At least eight people and countless animals have died in more than 200 wildfires in Turkey since July 28.