Burning Europe – not only Greece is on fire

Merciless forest fires continue to rage across Europe. Tens of thousands of people flee their homes

Greece

Fire, erupted on tuesday on the outskirts of Athens, forced people to evacuate. First, dry vegetation at the foot of Mount Pendeli caught fire. According to legend, it is here that the gates to the kingdom of Hades are located, and in ancient times it was a place where marble was mined. The situation is aggravated by a strong wind, the flame rapidly spread to a vast area. The smoke from the fire was recorded at a distance of 400 km, it reached Crete. 600 people were evacuated to safe places, 5 messages about organized evacuation were sent from number 112. Residential buildings damaged. 485 firefighters, 28 brigades of foot units, 120 vehicles, Romanian firefighters are involved in fighting the fire. 3 aircraft and 4 helicopters were provided for extinguishing, of which 1 is designed for coordination from the air, 4 more aircraft and 3 helicopters were mobilized.

France

In the southwest of France, in the Gironde region, two major fires have forced tens of thousands of residents to flee their homes. In summer recreation areas, such as Europe’s highest sand dune, Pyla, campsites are being destroyed by fire and campers are being evacuated. The commander of the fire brigade, Mathieu Jomain, states:

“The dune is behind us. The forest, as you can see, is almost charred. An ominous desert landscape … It will take a long time for these places to regain their beauty.”

Strong winds and extreme heat make it difficult to put out the flames. There is reason to believe that one of the fires near Bordeaux was deliberately set.

Spain

The fire is being fought on several fronts: in the northwest of Zamora, in Galicia and on the Costa del Sol, which is now under control. Experts note that the scorching heat and forest fires this year began three weeks earlier than usual.

Portugal

In Portugal, lower temperatures in recent days have eased the pressure on emergency teams, but warmer weather is forecast again on Wednesday.