Rain offers hope to Greek fire brigade | Abroad

At the moment, at high temperatures, the wind is still quite strong. That can cause new fires. There are also fires in, for example, bushes and mosses. Although the fire service indicates that the danger has not yet passed, mayors on the Peloponnese peninsula say that the situation has improved.

The weather conditions did not improve everywhere. Lightning strikes caused fires in some places, including west of Athens. However, that fire was quickly extinguished or under control.

The forest fires in Greece have so far destroyed at least 90,000 hectares of land. The geological institute at the University of Athens has calculated the damage and says there will be much more burned-out soil.

“The dates are constantly changing, as the fire has not yet been extinguished,” geology professor Niki Evelpidou told the Greek newspaper Kathimerini. And even if the fires are extinguished, the danger has not passed, according to Evelpidou. After forest fires, the ground is extra vulnerable to flooding and landslides. “This has often happened in recent years after a lot of rain.”

The island of Evia has been hit the hardest, says the professor. At least 50,000 hectares of forest were burned there. The fire has not been extinguished there once and continues to spread. More than 10,000 hectares of land on the Peloponnese peninsula have already been reduced to ashes.

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