Wave of fires in Europe spreads eastward: Three firefighters killed in Greece
Two firefighters perished after being trapped in flames on Crete and a third was killed in the Peloponnese. Thousands of residents and tourists were evacuated from their homes. After Spain and France, the concern is shifting to Greece and Italy.
Three Greek firefighters were killed on Wednesday while battling a wave of wildfires raging across the country, as fire hotspots in Europe continue to move eastward following days of devastating fires in Spain and France.
Two of the firefighters were killed on the island of Crete after being trapped in the flames, and a third firefighter perished in a fire in the Peloponnese region, the Greek fire service spokesperson told the Reuters news agency.
The fire on Crete broke out in the area of the city of Rethymno and spread rapidly due to strong winds reaching speeds of up to 74 km/h. According to the Greek public broadcaster ERT, the two firefighters were trapped by the fire while driving their vehicle between fire fronts. A local official told the channel that the fire front stretches over more than 15 kilometers and that at this stage, the fire is still not under control.
Following the spread of the flames, residents and tourists were evacuated from villages in the area, which is located near popular vacation destinations. The mayor of Rethymno stated that six villages have been evacuated so far.
The strong winds caused additional fire hotspots to ignite across Greece, including on the islands of Paros and Lesbos and in the Messenia and Laconia regions of the Peloponnese. On the island of Paros, about ten villages were evacuated as a precautionary measure, although the fire situation improved during the day.
The severe fires that hit Spain and France over the past week led to the evacuation of about 330,000 people from their homes and vacation sites. Today, a certain stabilization in the situation was recorded in both countries, and in France, about 6,000 evacuees were allowed to return to their homes.
However, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska warned that "three difficult days" are expected due to strong winds and high temperatures. In Spain, a fire is still raging in the Castellón province, burning for the fifth consecutive day, and about 10,000 people are still unable to return to their homes. At the same time, a new hotspot has opened in the Zamora province, where six towns were evacuated and about 1,000 residents were asked to shelter in their homes.
The head of the European Union's emergency center warned today that risk hotspots may now move eastward, and that Greece and Italy are at increased risk of fires in the coming weeks.
In Turkey, too, firefighting teams struggled today with fires near tourist areas in the south of the country, mainly in the Muğla province, which led to the evacuation of hundreds of people.
According to the French meteorological service, a decrease in risk levels is expected tomorrow in southwestern France due to thunderstorms, a drop in temperatures, and an increase in humidity, but the risk level will remain high in the southeast of the country.
