Evia blaze razes more than 2,000 hectares, keeps burning

Tuesday’s forest fire on the island of Evia already destroyed more than 2,000 hectares of land containing forests, houses, warehouses, manufacturing plans and tourism accommodation, the regional governor of Central Greece said on Wednesday, as the blaze continues on four separate fronts.

“This utter destruction is unprecedented,” Fanis Spanos said in comments to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), calling on civil protection authorities to send as much support as possible.

Spanos said that hundreds of firefighters, municipal crews and volunteers battled all night to contain the blaze – which started in forestland on the outskirts of the seaside village of Limni in the island’s north – but water-dumping aircraft were having trouble providing support due to poor visibility. 

According to the ANA-MPA, the blaze continues to be active on four fronts, including in Kafkala, where it is heading to Rovies on the coast, and Vateri, where it is threatening Limni.

“Eight villages were safely evacuated,” Spanos said. “In some cases, the evacuations may have seemed excessive, but our chief concern was to make sure than human lives were not being endangered.”