“The houses will be rebuilt, the forest will grow over time …” – said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a short visit to the outskirts of Varibobi during a fire on Tuesday.
“We faced an extremely severe fire in very hot weather. The worst fires occur in the forests around urban areas, ”he said, summing up the disaster that happened just 20 km from the center of the Greek capital and left hundreds of people homeless, burned about 200 houses and an unknown number of domestic and wild animals.
Interior view of burnt out restaurant as a wildfire continues to rage at Varympompi suburb north of Athens in Greece on August 4, 2021. #Greece #greecefires # βαρυμπομπη # Πυρκαγιά #forestfires pic.twitter.com/UZQlb8w7hx
– Alexandros Michailidis (@Alexandros__M) August 4, 2021
“I adhere to the fact that, thank God, we have not had any human casualties so far and that the evacuation system has worked exemplary. Our critical infrastructure is working, ”added Mitsotakis.
The prime minister stressed that the work on fixing the damage will begin immediately: “The houses will be rebuilt, the forest will grow over time … but hard times are still ahead. We still have a few days of intense heat, and then the winds will begin, and in this case, I ask everyone to keep the maximum vigilance so that the damage done from that moment is as little as possible “(Mitsotakis looked into the water, the fire resumed there… Approx. editor).
Fire at the foot of Parnif resumed Thursday morning
Kyriakos Mitsotakis thanked the firefighters, police officers stationed in the area and volunteers for their “dedicated efforts in an extremely difficult situation.”
A series of devastating photos from the fire that started in Varibobi. Location from photos were taken: Nea Kifisia # φωτιες pic.twitter.com/OHDi2ZteFK
– irish ☀️ (@irishamuze) August 3, 2021
Not less emotionally late on Tuesday evening, the Minister of Citizens’ Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis and the Deputy Minister for Crisis Management and Head of Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias made speeches.
They blamed climate change for a large fire that burned for quite a long time without the intervention of firefighters, and thus, with a weak wind of only 2 on the Beaufort A scale, the fire could not be extinguished normally. But, nevertheless, we congratulated ourselves on … successfully overcoming the disaster.
Chrysochoidis said that despite the unprecedented heat wave in Greece, “the state was prepared for climate change and took systematic measures to evacuate endangered villages.”
Interior view of burnt out restaurant as a wildfire continues to rage at Varympompi suburb north of Athens in Greece on August 4, 2021. #Greece #greecefires # βαρυμπομπη # Πυρκαγιά #forestfires pic.twitter.com/UZQlb8w7hx
– Alexandros Michailidis (@Alexandros__M) August 4, 2021
Hardalias said that despite the threat of a fire in Varibobi for power plants, the danger was averted. In addition, Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni gave advice on the removal of the most valuable items from the former royal summer palace of Tatoi.
“This fire started at 13.25 in Ano Varibobi on Parnife, when the heat reached 45 ° C, with humidity less than 10% and noon wind at a speed of 6 on the Beaufort scale,” she said.
A total of 520 firefighters, 17 ground teams, 150 fire trucks, 9 helicopters and 7 aircraft were operating in the area, Hardalias said, adding that the fire brigades were assisted by the army, police, including 305 police officers and 3 riot squads. volunteers and local authorities. In total, 315 people were removed from the fire zone.
Athens wasn’t the only place on fire, this is what the Evia fire looked like yesterday https://t.co/2V1HWBBrY6
– Asteris Masouras 正义 (@asteris) August 4, 2021
Speaking live on ERT, the desperate Rovies resident did not hesitate to use foul language to describe his attitude towards Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Source: https://t.co/EvWaXZACmD pic.twitter.com/N7WDnEUmC1
– Russian Athens (@russianathens) August 5, 2021
The authorities did not respond to the fire in Evia and the harsh accusations of the residents of the town of Rovies, who expressed their anger at the Prime Minister, using offensive and obscene language, on the air of the state TV channel ERT, saying that “the fire brigade was ordered to leave Evia at the mercy of fire to save the Varibobi. “
“Τα σπίτια καίγονταν, αλλά η πυροσβεστική πουθενά. Αν είναι δυνατόν “.# βαρυμπομπη pic.twitter.com/FzjzVGMPdO
– ʍք ǟȶɦǟ ֆ 💊 (@GiannisMpathas) August 4, 2021
Local authorities in Evia demanded a firefighting force and complained that no helicopter or plane had helped cope with the fires burning down their forests and homes.
According to the latest information, 12 settlements were evacuated in Evia, 150 houses were burned and 20,000 acres of forest land destroyed.
More Stories
Poll: which European countries are ready to defend their homeland to the last
Greece must transfer the Patriot PAC-3 system to Ukraine with US “guarantees” against the Turkish threat
How will the confiscation of Russian assets affect the global financial system?