Photo by Xinhua/Sipa USA
GREECE-EVIA-WILDFIRE
The fires in Greece rage on.
It’s been a week since fires began breaking out all over Greece and they show no signs of stopping soon. Since temperatures topped at 117 degrees Fahrenheit, both residents and firefighters have been trying to save their homes and save their islands.
According to the BBC, more than 150 fires have been reported.
The largest fire is on the island of Evia, which has torched people’s homes and businesses and forced hundreds of people to evacuate.
Authorities were ordering mandatory evacuations for some towns, including on Evia, but many residents ignored those orders to try to save their livelihoods.
Diomataris Glakousakis, who was one of these residents, told NBC News, “We didn’t have help from anyone. Only God helped us. Only God.” He and other villagers protected their homes with olive branches, buckets of water, and fire extinguishers. Two priests stood on the roof of a monastery spraying the land with garden hoses.
Yiannis Katsikoyiannis, a volunteer from Crete, told The Associated Press, “If they had evacuated their villages, as the civil protection told them to, everything would have been burnt down – perhaps even two days sooner.”
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the fires show the dangerous new reality of climate change.
David Angelou, a resident of Pefki, said, “We were completely forsaken. There were no fire brigades, no vehicles, nothing!” He added, “You could see the sun, a red ball, and then, nothing else around.” Many people have described the scene as “apocalyptic.”
Prime Minister Mitsotakis has claimed that owners of destroyed homes would receive up to 150,000 euros beginning next week.
There are only about 500 Greek firefighters on the island, but they are assisted by firefighters from other nations that were sent to help battle the deadly fires. The countries that have sent aid to Greece so far were the United States, France, Cyprus, Croatia, Ukraine, Israel, Sweden, Spain, Romania, Switzerland, Poland, Austria, Egypt, Czech Republic, Lithuania, the UK, Germany, Serbia, United Arab Emirates, Moldova, Kuwait, Qatar, and Slovakia.
