Athens, Jul. 31, (dpa/GNA) – A large forest fire was brought under control on Tuesday on Euboea, the second-largest island in Greece, as a number of Balkan countries reported major blazes.
The fire on Euboea spread rapidly in impassable terrain, said a fire brigade spokesman. Several villages and towns in the affected region in the southern part of the island were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
More than 200 firefighters and hundreds of volunteers were fighting the flames, the authorities said. In addition to seven aircraft and four helicopters, the coastguard was also on site with a firefighting boat.
Fire brigade units will continue to monitor the situation and detect and extinguish any new sources of fire at an early stage.
The fire on Euboea is just one of more than 50 fires that have broken out in Greece within 24 hours, according to the fire brigade spokesman. However, the fires were quickly brought under control nearly everywhere.
The island of Euboea, which is popular with tourists travelling from nearby Athens, is repeatedly ravaged by large forest fires.
“We have been used to fires here for many years,” the mayor of Kymi-Aliveri, a town hit by the fires, told the newspaper Kathimerini.
With around 200,000 inhabitants, Euboea is not very densely populated, but it is heavily forested.
In 2021, more than 50,000 hectares of pine forests in the north of the island fell victim to the flames.
Balkans hit by fires
Greece’s Balkan neighbours also saw a number of incidents involving fires on Tuesday.
In North Macedonia, a man died after authorities were unable to rescue him from his burning house in a village east of Skopje. He is believed to have died of smoke inhalation.
Some 14 fires were still active in the country on Tuesday, down from 46 the previous day. The fire brigade and army are using helicopters to extinguish the fire.
Media reported dramatic scenes from the village of Sveti Nikole. Residents had to be persuaded with great difficulty to leave their burning homes.
In the southern Croatian region of Dalmatia, pine forests and olive groves were ablaze, with the village of Plastovo near the Krka National Park being evacuated.
The Albanian coastal town of Shëngjin was also affected by a major fire, which started in a forest before spreading towards the urban area.
Tourists fled the town while local families were brought to safety by the fire brigade and the army, which deployed fire-fighting helicopters.
GNA