The Civil Defense Service activated the European emergency number 112, issuing an emergency message to evacuate residents of an even wider area between Liakotos, Kato Pefkenea, Hani Derveni and IM Agio Erofeu, asking them to leave their homes by provincial roads to Megara.
The fire in Shinos, Corinth, judging by the panicky statements by the authorities, has gotten out of control, despite the fact that the Greek authorities have thrown a large number of firefighters to eliminate it. The firefighters’ work is hampered by storm winds blowing in the area of 7 on the Beaufort scale.
According to the latest information, firefighters focused their attention on the front from Mazi to Khani, however, isolated foci are observed over a very large area, and repeated fires continue.
In the battle with fire, 265 firefighters, 82 fire engines, 10 groups of volunteers, as well as all available aviation equipment, 14 aircraft and 4 helicopters of fire aviation, including military ones, are operating.
Increased wind is expected
According to the forecast meteo.gr, the winds from the west and northwest, which blow in the area, will increase in the evening, reaching 7-8 on the Beaufort scale. One good thing is that the wind is expected to weaken on Friday morning.
Earlier, at a briefing on the development of the fire, Deputy Minister of Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias noted that “it will be a difficult night.” According to him, to date, as a result of the fire, which began as a result of burning branches in the olive grove, 20,000 acres of forest have burned down.
It is noted that the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropulu, contacted the Deputy Minister of Civil Protection by phone and was informed about the development of the situation with the fire.
Evacuation of settlements
It is noted that on Thursday afternoon, all residents of the vast areas of Hani Derveni, Ano Pefkenea and Kato Pefkenea, out of precautionary considerations, were called upon to immediately leave the area in the direction of the city of Megara.
After some time, all residents located on a vast territory in the area of the settlement of Aygeirus – Durakos, for reasons of precaution, were called upon to immediately leave along the coastal road in the direction of Alepochori – Megara.
The message was sent through the emergency number 112 for the preventive evacuation of citizens from certain areas.
Air pollution in Attica is extremely high
Dr. Evangelos Gerasopoulos, Research Director of the IEPVA-EAA (Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development of the National Observatory of Athens), told reporters that the level for microparticles is very high and said that vulnerable groups should be indoors.
As highlighted from the early hours of noon, most of the smoke from the fire is carried into Attica, which leads to a gradual increase in particulate matter pollution levels as this is monitored in real time by the PANACEA National Infrastructure (PANACEA) Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry Group (APCG) system ) National Observatory of Athens.
It is noteworthy that the following images represent the temporal evolution of the phenomenon (in 10 minute increments) at 6 recording locations in the Attica basin (Tiseio, Keratsini, Ilion, Chalandri, Acharnes, Glyfada). From the observation network image, it can be seen that during the period from 14:00 to 15:00, the smoke coverage spreads over the entire region of Attica with values that for fine PM2.5 particles approach or even exceed 100 μg / m3.
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