New big fires break out in central Greece, settlements evacuated
More wildfires broke out Wednesday in the central mainland of Greece, triggering a precautionary evacuation order for some outskirts of the town of Lamia.
Further north, villages were evacuated as a precaution near the city of Volos, whose residents were warned to stay indoors because of the hazard of smoke inhalation. State television ERT reported that an older woman was found dead in a caravan after another fire in the area.
New evacuations were ordered overnight on the islands of Corfu, Evia and Rhodes, where thousands of tourists were moved to safety over the weekend.
Authorities said the charred remains of a missing farmer were found in southern Evia — a discovery made following the death of two Greek firefighting pilots , in a crash during a low-altitude water drop.
The heat wave in Greece has pushed temperatures back above 40 C (104 F) while strong winds hampered firefighting efforts. The fire on Rhodes has damaged an inland nature reserve.
Rhodes resident Philippos Karageorgiou lamented how the blazes destroyed “forest areas with virgin forest of several years … from herbs to anything you can imagine, and Rhodes was famous for all of these.”
[Reuters]
