Fires on Pelion, Parnitha doused
Fire services on Mount Parnitha and in Pelion, near Volos, remained on alert last night after managing to contain new blazes that had broken out on Thursday in the two locations, already ravaged by fire in major blazes last week. The new fires broke out on Thursday afternoon and spread rapidly as they were fanned by winds reaching 8 on the Beaufort scale. It is unclear whether the new blazes were kindled from the embers of earlier fires at these locations or the work of arsonists. Firefighters were also summoned to tackle two other blazes – in Prodromos, in Viotia, and Kokla, in Messinia. Thessaloniki’s fire service was also busy yesterday after a large blaze broke out in a branch of Praktiker, the home improvement store, in the municipality of Pylaia. According to the fire service, the blaze broke out in the early hours in a warehouse containing wooden products and flammable goods. Fueled by the flammable liquids, it spread quickly but was extinguished by yesterday evening. It is unclear how the blaze started. Citizens protesting the government’s failure to protect Mount Parnitha and other stretches of Greek forestland from destruction are due to stage a protest outside Parliament at noon tomorrow. Three protest rallies are also scheduled for tomorrow morning at the foot of Mount Parnitha.
