Massive fire in northern Greece enters 20th day

A devastating fire that has razed thousands of hectares of pristine forest and brushland on Greece’s northern border with Bulgaria entered the 20th day on Thursday, though authorities appear optimistic of containing the blaze before it causes further destruction.

The blaze started on October 22 on Mount Papikio, in the region of Rodopi, and has burned through an estimated 1,200 hectares on the Greek side of the border and another 300 on the Bulgarian side, Lifo reported on Thursday. 

It is being fueled mainly by fallen leaves and putting it out is proving a daunting task due to the absence of roads in the unmanaged forest that would allow passage to firetrucks.

There is also shortage of fire-dumping aircraft as Greece’s fleet has been largely withdrawn for maintenance with the end of the fire season, Euronews reported last week.

The craggy terrain, with steep cliffs and deep ravines, has also proved a hindrance, preventing firefighters and the army, which has been thrown into the battle, from reaching the blaze on foot or by air, civil protection authorities told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA) on Monday.

“You can appreciate how dangerous it is for aircraft when they suddenly need to go from an altitude of 500-600 meters to 1,100-1,200 meters,” Secretary-General for Civil Protection Vassilis Papageorgiou told the AMNA.

“The bulk of the perimeter has been secured, but there’s still an area at a sharp incline,” he said.

The deputy regional governor responsible for firefighting services in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Konstantinos Koukouras, was even more upbeat in comments on television on Wednesday.

“The situation is much, much better. We’re close to containing it entirely,” he told Star TV.

Defined by the European Union as a major nature site, Mount Papikio is home to a significant population of vultures, eagles, black storks and wolves.