More villages evacuated as a large wildfire in northern Greece rages for the second day
Greek authorities have evacuated five more villages near the northeastern border with Turkey where a large summer wildfire is raging for a second day
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Greek authorities evacuated another five villages near the northeastern border with Turkey Sunday where a large summer wildfire that has already destroyed several homes over the weekend drew dangerously close.
There were no reports of serious injuries to firefighters or residents from the forest blaze near the town of Alexandroupolis, that forced the evacuation of another eight villages Saturday.
Strong winds whipped on the flames, and civil protection authorities warned of an “extreme” fire risk Monday in the region around the capital, Athens, and other parts of southern Greece.
Some 200 firefighters, assisted by 16 water-dropping aircraft, volunteers and police, were battling the blaze near Alexandroupolis.
Local authorities said about half a dozen outlying houses and outbuildings were badly damaged in two of the evacuated villages, as well as a church. Sections of a major highway were closed for a second day as smoke reduced visibility, while Alexandroupolis residents were advised to keep their windows shut.
Greece's minister for civil protection, Vassilis Kikilias, said Sunday that firefighters, police, army personnel and volunteers were “waging an intense battle” in the Alexandroupolis area, and called for extreme public vigilance throughout the country Monday.
“No outdoors work that could trigger a fire will be permitted,” he said. “We must all protect our country.”
Greece suffers destructive wildfires every summer, which officials said have been exacerbated by climate change.
The deadliest Greek wildfire on record killed 104 people in 2018, in a seaside resort near Athens that residents had not been warned to evacuate. Since then, authorities have been erring on the side of caution, issuing swift mass evacuation orders whenever inhabited areas are under threat.
Last month a large wildfire on the resort island of Rhodes forced the evacuation of some 20,000 tourists. Days later, two air force pilots were killed when their water-dropping plane crashed while diving low to tackle a blaze on the island of Evia. Another three wildfire-related deaths have been recorded this summer.