A handful wildfires in disparate parts of Greece – of the 34 fires on the day – were the most serious on Wednesday, after most of the flames of a major conflagration in northeast Attica prefecture that sent flames as far as northern Athens’ upland districts were contained.
Specifically, a fire near the central city of Larissa was centered near the Omorfohorio site, after erupting at a recycling center.
Local residents were warned of the blaze and resulting flames via the 112 mobile phone notification system.
According to local media, 32 fire brigade fire-fighters and a field unit operating 10 vehicles were operating at the scene, with one water-dropping helicopter also used in the fire-fighting efforts.
Further to the northeast, a wildfire was reported at the Drymades site in Ioannina prefecture, with a similar fire-fighting force to the one in Larissa on the scene and battling the blaze.
A notification was also issued in this case to local residents’ mobile phones.
In the south, a wildfire was burning in a rural and forested land in Ano Epidaurus, in the northeast Peloponnese. According to the fire brigade, 65 firefighters are at the scene, supported by ground units, 17 vehicles and six aircraft dropping water until dusk. Local municipalities were providing water tankers.
On the day, the fire brigade said 34 fires were reported in rural and semi-rural areas around the country, with 23 immediately contained, with the remaining 11 requiring a continued effort by fire-fighting forces.
One arrest was also reported on Wednesday, specifically a woman in a remote part of the south-central prefecture of Fokida, in a site called Routsos, was detained and fined for trying to burn dried brush. She was imposed a fire of a little more than 3,000 euros.
Serres Blaze Burning for nearly a … Month
Meanwhile, while all of the national – and international – attention focused on the greater Athens area over the past few days, a wildfire in northern Greece, close to the border with Bulgaria, has been burning for nearly a month.
The wildfire is centered along Mt. Orvilos and is estimated to have burned some 2,600 hectares of land and forest so far. According to media reports, fire-fighting on the ground is hampered by land mines dating from WWII and the Greek Civil War. In fact, the mayor of the local municipality of Sintikis, Giorgos Tatsios, told Mega Channel that explosions of discarded ordnance and mines can be heard. He added that the fire has now passed the frontier and entered southern Bulgaria.
Tatsios said fire-fighters and local municipal crews attempted to contain the blaze on numerous occasions but fell back after explosions were heard. He added that water-dropping aircraft were used for 20 days before being called off over the past week to fight other wildfires.
