Greece asks for international help to cope with the situation of the fires that are approaching the outskirts of Athens and Italy, France, Romania and the Czech Republic have responded.
A Puma super helicopter is expected to arrive tomorrow from France, while a Canadair plane will arrive from Italy along with 75 firefighters and 25 trucks from the Czech Republic. Spain and Turkey are also expected to help.
Thousands of people living around Athens have been evacuated, including from the historic town of Marathon, as a large fire has approached the Greek capital favored by the wind. Authorities have ordered at least five other communities to be evacuated and two hospitals northeast of Athens. The evacuation of residents from eight villages, including Marathon, was also ordered on Sunday, August 11.
The damage is great. Dozens of houses and cars have been burned, while the ecological destruction is truly incalculable, as thousands of hectares of pine forests have been reduced to ashes. Firefighters have concentrated on two fronts, in Kallitechnoupoli and Grammatiko, in the north, while the situation has improved in Varnavas and Dionysos, Greek CNN writes.
Over 670 firefighters, 27 groups of forest workers, 183 cars and 32 aircraft have been fighting the fires for 20 hours.
"We will continue until we have extinguished the last hearth" stressed the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Defense Vasilis Kikilias. The residents of Drafi, Dioni, Dasamari as well as those of Pentel and Nea Pentel and Kallitechnoupoli have already been evacuated.
The situation remains worrying because the wind is expected to increase in the following hours, which will make the work of the firefighters more difficult.
