By Monday evening, all of the wildfires in Rhodes have been largely extinguished, with firefighters and volunteers fighting the blaze over the past night. But, as is the case with forest fires, this is far from the end.
The firefighting planes and helicopters, dropping water onto the fires, went to work at dawn, and the firefighters were optimistic that the wildfire would soon be completely under control.
Giorgos Hatzimarkos, governor of the South Aegean Sea, told the state-run ERT television channel that the situation is better than last night. He added that the damage to the electricity grid was repaired, and electricity returned to 99% of the island.
According to local media reports, more than 2,832 hectares of forest were destroyed by a fire that started near Sironi on Sunday afternoon.
Several settlements were evacuated, as well as residents and tourists from the famous Valley of the Butterflies…
So far, there are no reports of the fate of many animals – peacocks, deer and others, also living on farms in the area.
Putting out fires is complicated by the incredible heat, which is caused by the front of hot air that entered Greece from the Sahara Desert. In most of the country, temperatures reach 45 degrees in the shade. On the islands, it is slightly lower, but still significantly higher than the norm.
For this reason, extinguishing forest fires can be considered completed finally not earlier than the last smoldering fire is extinguished.
Extreme hot conditions will continue until at least Friday 9 August. From today, Monday, August 2, the arrival of hot air masses from Africa is expected to intensify. The temperature will increase. The expected maximums vary in the range of 43-45 degrees, locally they can reach + 46-47 ° С.
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