Firefighters have been battling forest fires on the Greek island of Rhodes for five days. While the other forest fires in Greece are under control for the time being, the fire in Rhodes is still spreading. Rhodes fires started in the forested, mountainous and sparsely populated center of the island, but calls to evacuate are now reaching the southwest coast. The strong wind fanned the fire. Several countries, including rival Turkey, have already sent firefighting planes and firefighters to help fight the forest fires.
LOOK. Flemish B&B manageress on Rhodes testifies: “The fire was strongly fanned by the strong wind”
The evacuation is recommended for parts of Kiotari and Lardos, among others, around 40 kilometers from the more northerly capital Rhodes. According to local authorities, no tourists are in danger. Greek media reported that guests of two hotels in Kiotari are being evacuated by buses.
In mainland Greece, it is feared that the fires will flare up again due to the drought and the heat that is sweeping the country in waves. It was an average of 36.5 degrees in Greece on Friday, but above 40 degrees in many places. Locally it could be well above 40 degrees tomorrow
LOOK. Several Greek cities were already evacuated as a precaution last week:
Many Greeks fearfully remember the heat wave of July 1987 when it was sweltering for almost two weeks and nearly 1300 people succumbed to the heat. The deputy director of the Greek Institute of Meteorology, Thodoris Kolidas, has said, according to Greek media, that the heat wave of that year is difficult to compare with the heat of today. Then it was continuously very hot and now there are three waves.
Many European countries have sent firefighting planes and/or firefighters to assist in extinguishing the fire. Slovak and Romanian firefighters are active on Rhodes, among others. A Jordanian and an Israeli fire extinguisher are also active. Greece also receives help from its great rival Turkey. That has sent two firefighting planes and a helicopter. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis today thanked Turkey for their help in the fight against the forest fires in Greece. “Thanks Turkey,” the Greek prime minister tweeted. The two planes arrived today at an air base near Athens.
Neighboring countries Greece and Turkey have been fighting for years over the rights and natural gas resources in the Aegean Sea and the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. Just last year, Erdogan had threatened to invade Greek islands because Greece had militarized these islands against international agreements. Turkey has claims on fourteen Greek islands, including Rhodes. However, there has been some rapprochement between the two feuding NATO member states in recent weeks. For example, Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently agreed on the margins of the NATO summit in Lithuania to facilitate some rapprochement. Tensions between the two countries started to ease after the strong earthquake that hit Turkey in February. Athens immediately sent aid along with other countries.
Forest fires ravage Greece: 200 European firefighters help fight fire
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