Deadly Greece wildfire believed to have been started by beekeeper as villages evacuated

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Louise Thomas

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A fire in Greece that has already killed two people may have been started by a beekeeper.

Hundreds of firefighters, assisted by waterbombing planes and volunteers, have made significant progress in containing the deadly forest blaze burning for four days in southern Greece, authorities said on Wednesday.

The fire service said the blaze, which killed two local residents Sunday, is receding, with firefighting forces focusing on putting out scattered smaller fires within the devastated area.

According to satellite maps released by Greece’s weather service, the fire affected some 6,500 hectares (16,000 acres) of rugged, mountainous terrain in the Corinthia area of the Peloponnese region.

The fire service said a local beekeeper was suspected of accidentally starting the blaze while smoking out hives to harvest their honey, despite a warning against such activity due to the high wildfire risk.

It said in a statement that the man has been fined and the case against him will be forwarded to judicial authorities.

Some 570 firefighters were working Wednesday, along with 160 fire trucks and 11 aircraft. These include three from Italy and Croatia, sent after Greece requested help from its fellow European Union members.

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said firefighters had been hampered in their initial response by the difficult terrain and poor road network.

“During the first, crucial stage of the fire, firetrucks had great difficulty approaching (the blaze) because of the narrow roads,” he said.

“The many ravines and the gale-force winds blowing that day greatly impeded” the firefighting effort, Mr Marinakis added.

More than half a dozen villages were ordered evacuated as a precaution between Sunday and Tuesday, although firefighters were able to keep the flames at bay outside them. Several outlying buildings have reportedly been damaged, and a historic church in the area was gutted.

Greece, like other southern European countries, suffers from devastating, and often deadly, forest fires every summer.

This year, a combination of climate change-related drought, high spring temperatures and summer heatwaves has led to a record of more than 4,500 blazes so far.

Many broke out outside the three summer months when fires are normally expected.

Also Wednesday, the fire service said another forest fire broke out in the Peloponnese west of Corinthia, in the mountainous Kalavryta area.

More than 40 firefighters and four aircraft were battling the blaze.