ALEXANDROUPOLI, GREECE (BNO NEWS) — Greece declared a state of emergency Friday near its north-eastern border with Turkey and asked the European Union (EU) for help to battle a wildfire which has burned out of control for the third day straight, the German Press Agency DPA reported.
The blaze broke out on Wednesday near the village of Lefkimmi in Evros, the northernmost peripheral unit of Greece, and rapidly spread towards the villages of Melia and Kila, where authorities were forced to evacuate its residents.
The fire has swept through more than 25,000 hectares (61,776 acres) of forest and farmland in the Evros unit, threatening a nearby National park and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of foreign students at a holiday camp.
Greek firefighters are struggling to contain the fire, assisted by four water-bombing planes, two helicopters and 15 fire trucks. “The situation is quickly turning into a major catastrophe,” the Mayor of Alexandroupoli, Evangelos Lamakis said, as quoted by the German agency.
Meanwhile, France, Italy and Spain have sent a total of five water-carrying planes to help put out the forest fires in response to a formal request made on Thursday by the Greek authorities through the EU’s crisis response mechanism, the European Voice newspaper reported.
According to the newspaper, half a dozen serious wildfires are currently raging in mainland Greece and on a number of islands. On Thursday, firefighters managed to extinguish fires in the residential areas of Parnitha and Glyfada, near the Greek capital of Athens.
Forest fires are a regular feature in the Mediterranean country during the hot, dry summer months, leading to the destruction of thousands of acres of forest and farmland.
The worst summer in Greece’s recent history was in 2007, when 77 people were killed in raging forest fires that broke out in the Peloponnese region.
Friday, August 26th, 2011
Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19703/greece-battles-wildfires-near-turkish-border/.
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