In Greece to have hundreds firemen on sunday the ninth consecutive day fought against the forest fires that ravaged the country. The worst fire continued to devastate the North region, according to the Fire Department eurosclose to the port city Alexandropolis and the border with Türkiye. The inhabitants of the areas Lefkimmi in Évros and Cassitera in the neighboring region Rhodopes were ordered to evacuate by civil defense on Sunday.
Evros deputy governor Dimitris Petrovic spoke to the state television channel ERT of a “very difficult situation” and of enormous damage. The region requested additional emergency services. “Then, starting on Monday, the wind changes, the threat increases and we don’t know how and if we will be able to stop the advance of the fire front”, continued Petrovic.
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The fire is devastating Dadia National Park’s protected forest, which is an important habitat or wintering ground for birds of prey. Meanwhile, north of Athens, a fire destroys vegetation in the Parnitha Mountains – one of the green lungs of the Greek capital. Firefighters have also been fighting a wildfire on the island of Andros in the Cyclades since Saturday.
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According to estimates by the National Observatory of Athens, fires in Greece have already destroyed an area of over 120,000 hectares this year. According to the European Forest Fire Information System, the burned area is already three times the annual average since 2006.