Forest fires plead southern Europe: Houses threatened in France, hundreds of fireworks in Sicily, smoke to Athens
In Sigean in southern France, in the Aude department, a forest fire broke out on Saturday at the end of the afternoon that spread over an area of one hundred hectares in a short time. The flames have already digested one home, and the fire is approaching several other homes. The residents of a dozen other homes were already evacuated. The French press agency AFP reports this. Around 300 firefighters fight the fire, there are also extinguishing aircraft and helicopters used.
Also hundreds of forest fires in Sicily
The Italian island of Sicily is also plagued by hundreds of forest fires. On Friday, the local authorities had “380 Burns, large and small”. As a precaution, about fifty houses have been evacuated in the city of Trapani. The regional government of Sicily says it makes every effort to limit the damage, report Italian media.
The extreme heat and strong wind on parts of the island make the fight against it extra complicated. Thousands of firefighters and volunteers try to get the fires under control. Ten blushelicopters and a few fireplace aircraft are also used. Sicily gets help from the mainland, from the Calabria region.
Three large forest fires in Greece
The Greek fire services also have their hands full on Saturday with several large forest fires. According to Greek media, a fire north of Athens, near the village of Kryoneri, is dangerous. Two villages have been evacuated so far in this densely populated region. The dense smoke already crosses the city center of Athens, which is about 25 kilometers away. Criticism is also a major fire in the west of the island of Eboea, near the village of Nea Artaki, a forest and bush fire in the southwest of the Peloponnesos peninsula, and a fire on the island of Kythira.
A problem is that due to the currently extremely high risk of forest fires in large parts of the country, the emergency services are spread wide, according to the fire brigade. Large fires such as those near Athens keep the firefighters busy, making it difficult to extinguish new fires. Also on Sunday the forest fire hazard in Greece remains very high, due to the persistent drought, high temperatures and strong winds.