Forest fires in southern Europe: fire reaches suburb of Athens

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Use of the fire brigade in a forest area north of Athens: critical day for the capital

Photo: Angelos Tzortzinis / dpa

In southern Europe, Turkey and Russia, numerous forest fires remain out of control. In the heavily affected Greece, villages had to be evacuated again on Saturday. Fires swept through the Athens suburb of Thrakomakedones, and more than 1,300 people on Evia had to be evacuated by ferries from coastal towns surrounded by flames during the night. In Turkey, the authorities are currently reporting 13 uncontrolled fires, and in Russia there are currently 250 fires. In Sicily, the regional government declared the emergency and crisis situation for six months.

The situation

in

Greece's

capital

Athens

remains tense. The whole town stinks from the heavy smoke and ash falls for the third day in a row. "Close all windows and don't go out of the house," the authorities called on the residents. The flames blazed through the whole night, clearly visible to many people in the north of the metropolis. Two people were killed in the fire near Athens on Friday.

On Saturday morning, the wind in the north of the capital subsided, but it was only a "time window" that had to be used, according to the fire department.

"If we do not manage to contain the fires today, then we will have a huge problem," said the Vice-Governor of the greater Athens area, Vasilis Kokkalis, who is responsible for civil defense.

The Greek police arrested a 43-year-old man on suspicion of arson in the Athens suburb of Krioneri, the Greek news agency ANA reported.

A woman was arrested in a park in Athens with two lighters, gasoline and flammable materials.

On the large island of

Evia,

east of Athens, the flames had enclosed the coastal town of Limni.

More than 1,300 people had to be brought from Limni by ferry during the night.

Pictures of the ferry, which a Greek weather service posted on Twitter, show the extent of the fires.

In Evia and in other parts of Greece, such as the Peloponnese, the fire is so strong because the rescue workers are concentrating on the capital Athens.

Fanis Spanos, the governor of Central Greece responsible for Evia, sent a desperate cry for help on Facebook: “The fire continues unabated, it burns forests and destroys houses, it threatens human life!

We finally want the serious number of fire-fighting planes that we have been asking for since day one!

And more fire engines! "

In large parts of southern Europe, the forests are extremely dry, and the firefighters also have to deal with strong winds and the enormous heat.

In the south of the continent, the heat wave with temperatures of more than 40 degrees has been going on for a week.

In

Turkey

blaze according to official figures currently 13 uncontrolled fire.

In Mugla, western Turkey, the fires have spread through the forest to the neighboring province of Aydin.

The authorities were only able to give the all-clear for Antalya in southern Turkey: All fires are under control.

According to the weather report, rain is also expected.

But the fires left great devastation in the province, and entire villages were burned to the ground.

Non-governmental organizations provide those affected with emergency accommodation, among other things.

In

Italy

, the regional government of Sicily justified the declaration of a six-month crisis with the fires that have been going on since the end of July, the upcoming heat wave and the further tense situation. The fire brigade reported two deaths from San Lorenzo at the tip of the Italian boot, the people were killed in the flames. In Sardinia, too, the situation kept escalating. According to the authorities, an accommodation for tourists in the province of Oristano burned on Saturday. According to their own statements, the emergency services prevented the flames from spreading to the surrounding vegetation. There were no injuries. Many fires in Italy are likely to be caused by arson.

The largest forest fire disaster of this century is looming

in

Russia

.

The environmental organization Greenpeace has listed a burned area of ​​14.3 million hectares for the country since the beginning of the year.

The negative record of the century was set in 2012 with an area of ​​16 million hectares destroyed by fire.

The authorities are currently reporting more than 250 fires with a total area of ​​more than three million hectares.

Extinguishing work ran with 180 fires with an area of ​​around 1.3 million hectares, said the authority responsible for forest protection Avialesoochrana.

The other fires in poorly accessible regions would not be extinguished because there was no danger to people, it said.

The Siberian region of Yakutia in the northeast of the country is particularly hard hit.

There, as in a total of eight regions, the state of emergency applies.

In Yakutia, the fire is spreading in the direction of the Sangar settlement with its oil depots, the civil defense announced, according to the Interfax agency.

The state agency Tass reported from the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk that almost 400 villages there would be drowned in smoke.

According to the Avialesoochrana authority, more than 6,700 people were deployed across the country to bring the fire under control.

fdi / dpa / AFP / Reuters