A major wildfire in Patras prompted civil protection authorities to send emergency alerts to the cell phones of the port city’s residents on Tuesday. The large wildfire broke out near a nursing home at the Aroi settlement, east of the port city.
According to reports by local media, fire brigade ground forces are operating at the scene, aided by aerial means. As a precaution, both a local nursing home and a children’s hospital in the vicinity were being evacuated. The blaze was described as serious and raging uncontrolled in the early afternoon.
The wildfire comes amid yet another hot and dry day around much of Greece, with temperatures reaching upwards of 39 C in the western region, where the port city of Patras is situated.
On Tuesday, the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister, Vassilis Kikilias announced figures for the number of blazes that have been recorded throughout Greece since the start of this year’s wildfire season, on May 1, and up to July 7, taking to his account “X”.
Kikilias said a total of 2,166 wildfires have been reported up to July 7, with 1,870 being promptly extinguished or contained. Furthermore, since the beginning of this year’s season, 256 fines have been issued, and authorities have made 123 fire-related arrests —87 due to negligence and 36 intentionally.
