Evros fire continues to frustrate
Experts weigh in on why it is proving so difficult to put out the blaze in the region
As the large inferno in the Evros region of northeastern Greece entered its 13th day on Thursday, more firefighting personnel were dispatched as the fire flared up again, prompting authorities to warn inhabitants to prepare for possible evacuation.
More than 100 additional firemen were sent to the area, increasing the total to 582, and were supported by 10 planes and seven helicopters from nine European countries, according to Greece’s fire service. The fire, which began on August 19, has destroyed homes and wide swaths of forest in the Alexandroupoli and Evros region, close to the Turkish border. It claimed 20 of the 21 lives lost last week in the Greek fires.
One senior fire officer stressed that there were no coordination issues or operational weaknesses, arguing the blaze could not be stopped once it got away.
“There are things above us. We can’t put it out – it’s a terrible drought and fire dynamics. It’s not a matter of incompetence – I wish it was so we could fix it. Unfortunately it’s not,” claimed the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The fire will go wherever it wants to go, it will sit where it wants to sit, until it gives us a window of opportunity to contain it where we can,” he added.
According to Gabriel Xanthopoulos, a researcher at the Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems, the Evros fire repeated a pattern similar to that on Evia in 2021 and Rhodes in July. He also referred to operational weaknesses, noting that once the fire brigade focuses on guarding evacuated villages and settlements, or relies mainly on aerial means, the fire opens up like a fan, the perimeter grows and difficulties increase exponentially. He said fires fanned by meltemi winds “have to be kept narrow.” “They have to be worked by ground forces from the sides and back. In forest firefighting you take advantage of the daily fire cycle,” he said.
Sources from the fire service have confirmed to Kathimerini that controlled burning was deployed in recent days to limit the fuel that the fire finds in its path.
“The means were available, but the fire was not contained. What we experienced was very intense, with a lot of wind,” said Giorgos Hadjigeorgiou, chairman of the community of Avanta on Evros. “We had firefighters from other parts of Greece who could not move easily in the mountains. They don’t know the area,” he added.
