Civil Protection of Greece has ordered to evacuate some 5,000 people outside Athens for a large forest fire declared this Saturday and that It spreads south and the capital attached to strong winds.
The fire declared near the town of Drosopigi, of about 150 inhabitants, but quickly spread to the capital, Forcing to evacuate the town of Kryoneri, of about 5,000 inhabitantslocated about 20 kilometers north of the center of Athens and very close to the urban fabric of the capital.
More than 100 firefighters with 36 trucks, two airplanes and three cistern helicopters They fought on Saturday afternoon against this forest fire, said the Skai station. The flames have already burned three houses in Kryoneri, while explosions were heard from small nearby industrial areas that have also been reached by fire, according to the same source.
The smoke of the fire and a strong burnt smell has reached the center of the capital, as an EFE reporter has been able to verify.
“It is a very difficult time. All firefighters, the army and also cistern vehicles of the regional government are operating” in the area, the president of the Association of Officials of the Fire Department, Kostas Tsigas, has told the public broadcaster.
The fire burns in An area very close to the main highway that leads to Athenswhich for now remains open, although the police had to cut the traffic of several local roads.
Meanwhile, hundreds of firefighters fought on Saturday afternoon against a dozen large forest fires throughout the territory Helleno, in the middle of a heat wave that fired on Saturday the temperatures up to 45.2 degrees.
Six firefighters were injured While they operated in a fire near the town of Pissonas, about 50 kilometers north of Athens, on the Greek island of Eubea. All were transferred to the hospital of the capital of this island, Calcís, five with respiratory problems and one with minor burns in the body, a firefighters spokesman told Efe.
During extinction tasks, two firefighters tank trucks were surrounded by fire, they had to be abandoned and were burned, according to Skai.
The authorities ordered the evacuation of Pissonas, of about 450 inhabitants, while some 130 firefighters with 28 trucks, six aircraft and seven cistern helicopters tried to control the flames, in the middle of strong winds.
Meanwhile, dozens of firefighters operate on the Greek island Cítera (south), in the Ionian Sea, where another forest fire declared this Saturday forced to order the evacuation of ten small towns, of a total population of 250 people.
Another 150 people were evacuated from two villages in the Region of Mesinia, on the Peloponnese Peninsula (South), where this Saturday the maximum temperature reached 45 degrees.
More than 80 firefighters, with 30 trucks, seven planes and two cistern helicopters fight against this fire that was declared near the town of Polithea.
In the evacuated people of Kryoneri (different from that of the town evacuated on the outskirts of Athens) the fire reached some houses, according to the Newsit portal.
Two bigger fires burned this Saturday for the second consecutive day in the regions of Euritania (center) and Kastoria (north), burning virgin forests, although they do not threaten populated areas for now.
Firefighters also fight against smaller fires on the outskirts of the second city of Greece, Salaónica (North), and in the Kozani region, also in the north.
Since last Tuesday, Some 10,000 people have had to be evacuated of their homes for the dozens of fires that are declared daily.
