The new fire that broke out in Viliya yesterday, Monday morning, brought many troubles. In Profitis Ilias, houses were burned down, the monastery was seriously damaged, which was abandoned by the nuns. Strong winds, reaching 8 points on the Beaufort scale, significantly hampered the work of the firefighters. At about 12:30 a message was sent to residents from 112 – about the preventive evacuation from Viliya and Profitis Ilias.
The fire was extinguished by 21 air vehicles, 167 firefighters with 60 special vehicles, two ground teams, as well as forces provided by the European Civil Protection Mechanism with 61 firefighters and 18 vehicles from Romania and 37 firefighters with 9 vehicles from Poland, METPE and the SMEAA team of PE .PY.D. Attica.
By evening, the fire was quieted down, but firefighters remain in place, fearing new fires. The raging fire burned many acres of pine forest, residential buildings. Christos Statis, Mayor of Mandra-Eidillias, and George Patoulis, Governor of Attica, talk about the arson: “They set fire to the most beautiful village of Attica, Viliya.” They noted that the flames erupted at a distance of 300 meters from each other, and then developed into a huge fire front.
The residents of Viliya fought desperately to save their homes. In an interview with OPEN, one of them said that the disaster struck within 25 minutes. He noticed that in the beginning there was a problem with the coordination of the work of the fire forces. The man says that for 2.5 hours he tried to save his house alone, until a passing fireman helped him: “He helped me, and I finally put out the fire. Another house nearby burned down completely, ”he said.
According to the fire brigade, the fire is in remission. However, firefighters with cars remain there. From the very beginning, the air force was involved, which worked periodically: 14 helicopters, including 2 Air Force helicopters and 1 as a coordinator, and 14 aircraft, including the Russian Beriev-200.
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