Alert issued for riskiest day for fires this summer
As firefighters battled large blazes on the Ionian island of Cephalonia and in the Peloponnese Thursday, Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias warned that Friday will be the riskiest day for wildfires so far this summer.
The General Secretariat for Civil Protection warned of a category 4 (very high) risk of wildfires Friday in Attica, Thessaloniki, Halkidiki, Messinia, Magnesia, Viotia, Achaia and Ileia, on the Sporades, Dodecanese and Ionian islands, as well as on Evia, Chios, Samos and Ikaria.
An emergency alert sent to cellphones appealed to citizens to show particular caution and “avoid actions which may cause a fire.”
On Thursday, 21 firefighters were sent to Sarlata, on Cephalonia, to tackle a blaze there, aided by five water-dropping aircraft. Meanwhile 30 firefighters in Ileia managed to bring a forest fire in the area of Xirokambo under partial control with the help of three aircraft.
