Firefighters are desperately fighting a fire in Viliya, 56 km from the Greek capital. From the hill in Galatsi you can see a thick cloud of smoke covering the sky. The situation is dramatic.
At night, 5 more settlements were evacuated – Tea, Paleochori, Panorama, Paleokundura, Agia Sotira. The flames approached the residential area, therefore the Panagia Faneromeni nursing home was evacuated as well.
With the first rays of the sun, the air assets used to extinguish the fire resumed flights: six helicopters and five aircraft, incl. Russian “Beriev-200”. The ground force includes 330 firefighters, 8 groups of infantry divisions, 115 vehicles (including METPE) and forces provided by the European Civil Protection Mechanism, in particular from Poland, according to the Athens News Agency. The OLYMPUS Mobile Operations Center has been provided to coordinate the forces.
The Defkaliya plan has been activated, according to which 5 groups of infantry units of the Greek army are involved. Volunteer firefighters are involved in extinguishing the fire, using water tanks provided by the municipal authorities and construction equipment from the Greek army. The actions of the firefighters are coordinated by Lieutenant General Stefanos Kolokuris, the head of the fire department.
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