Athens Fires Destroyed Much Of Greece's Few Large Forested Areas; Mani Region Also Hard-Hit
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Scores of homes, businesses and farms have been burnt over the last week in fires that broke out during Greece’s most protracted and intense heat wave in three decades. One massive fire advanced up the slopes of Mount Parnitha, a national park north of Athens that features some of the last substantial forests near the Greek capital. The blaze sent choking smoke across Athens, where authorities set up a hotline for residents with breathing problems. Overnight and throughout the day, fire crews struggled to contain constant flare-ups.
In apocalyptic scenes that went into the night, small ferries and other boats evacuated 1,400 people from a seaside village and beaches on Evia, an island of rugged, forested mountains popular with tourists and campers, after approaching flames cut off other means of escape. Behind them, towering flames and smoke blanketed the hills.
The scale of Greece’s wildfires has been breathtaking, with more than 100 breaking out across the country over the past few days. Most were quickly tamed, but several rapidly burned out of control, consuming homes and causing untold ecological damage. A local official in the Mani region of the Peloponnese estimated the wildfire there had destroyed around 70% of her area.
“It’s a biblical catastrophe. We’re talking about three-quarters of the municipality,” East Mani Deputy Mayor Drakoulakou told state broadcaster ERT, pleading for more water-dropping aircraft.
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https://www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/2021/08/wildfires-rampage-through-forests-in-greece-its-a-biblical-catastrophe.html