A forest fire in Greece has threatened the archaeological site at the birthplace of the modern Olympics amid the protracted European heatwave.
Firefighters fought a ‘all-night battle’ on Wednesday in the southern Peloponnese area near ancient Olympia to safeguard the site from fire, according to Citizens Protection Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis. ‘We will continue the battle all day in order to contain all the fronts and extinguish the fire. The conditions are difficult,’ Chrisochoidis said.
Olympics have been held here every four years from 776 BC for more than a millenium.
Regional Governor Nektarios Farmakis told state television that the situation had been ‘saved for the time being,’ but that the threat was still present. He hoped that helicopters and firefighting planes would be able to put out the fire.
Wildfires devastated the same area in 2007, killing scores of people but sparing Olympia’s damaged sports arenas and temples.
The fire, which started on Wednesday, was being fought by 174 firemen, nine ground teams, 52 vehicles, two water-dropping planes and four helicopters. The severe weather phenomena, which has been described as Greece’s worst heatwave since 1987, has been baking the nation for more than a week and is expected to persist until at least Sunday.
It has caused tinder-dry conditions in shrubland and woodlands, with temperatures reaching 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
Similar circumstances exist in neighbouring nations, causing devastating and extensive wildfires in Turkey, as well as blazes in Italy and throughout the Mediterranean. At least one person died of smoke inhalation in the southern city of Gjirokaster, according to Albanian officials.
After burning for 11 hours in Turkey, a wildfire that reached the complex of a coal-fueled power plant in the southwest, causing inhabitants to evacuate in boats and automobiles, was put out on Thursday.
Turkey’s biggest wildfires in decades has been burning for nine days, with searing temperatures, low humidity and strong winds continuously shifting. At least eight humans have died as a result of the flames, as well as numerous animals.
Firefighters and water-dropping planes are being dispatched from EU countries to Italy, Greece, Albania and North Macedonia, as per a European Union emergency response organisation.
Smoke plumes from the region’s wildfires were plainly apparent in satellite pictures, according to the EU Atmosphere Monitoring Service, which also revealed that the severity of the Turkish wildfires was at its highest level since records began in 2003.
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Experts have warned that the climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of wildfires in the area.
Greece saw more than 100 wildfires break out over 24 hours from late Tuesday to late Wednesday. On Thursday, Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos stated that the armed forces will increase their involvement by conducting ground and air patrols over areas prone to wildfires.
Air patrols are conducted by both human and unmanned aircraft. ‘The armed forces are always present in difficult times and so they are now,’ Panagiotopoulos said.
A huge fire ravaged forests on the island of Evia, close the Greek mainland, on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of communities. Nearly 90 individuals were rescued from a beach by the coastguard.
To put out the blaze in Evia, more than 160 firemen, three aircraft and three helicopters, as well as five ground teams and 57 vehicles, were dispatched.
France’s civil protection service announced late Wednesday that 40 French firemen and 8 tonnes of equipment had arrived in Greece to assist in Evia.
A forest fire that encroached into the northern suburbs of Athens, destroying scores of homes and causing thousands of residents to leave, continued to burn to the north of the Greek capital.
The fire, which began on Tuesday, was no longer threatening populated areas, but it was still destroying forest areas in Mount Parnitha’s foothills. In the conflagration, forty firemen from Cyprus had joined their Greek counterparts.
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According to Greek experts, the overall devastation in Greece in just three days this month topped 50% of the usual area burnt in prior years.
An Athens Observatory report said, between Sunday and Wednesday, an estimated 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) of land burned, compared to 10,400 hectares (25,700 acres) for the entire year.
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