Other holiday regions on the Mediterranean are fighting against devastating forest fires: Due to the extreme heat, fires have already broken out in Turkey, Italy and now also in Greece.
Athens – In Greece the heat is still not easing. At the weekend the temperatures rose to 44 degrees and on Monday (August 2nd, 2021) and Tuesday (August 3rd, 2021) values of up to 47 degrees are expected, as reported by the German press agency.
The temperatures in Greece continue to rise, but the fires on the Greek island of Rhodes have been contained – even if the fire risk remains high. Hotels and other tourist facilities were not affected by the fires in Greece, as the civil defense in Athens announced to the German press agency.
Since countless air conditioning systems have been running at full speed for days, the government fears that there could be power outages lasting several hours.
Fire in Italy: civil defense wants to activate EU mechanism
In Italy, too, there is currently heat and drought, as well as strong winds that keep fueling the fires. That is why the head of the civil protection authority asks European aid in the fight against the forest fires in Italy: “We had a dramatic day yesterday,” said Fabrizio Curcio on Monday (02.08.2021) on the Italian private television broadcaster Canale 5. During the fires on the holiday island of Sardinia Greece and France had already dispatched fire-fighting planes last week.
On the Adriatic coast, the flames raged on Sunday (01.08.2021) in the city of Pescara. There the fire destroyed parts of a nature reserve. The fire brigade said it had evacuated several houses and brought more than 100 people to safety. In the evening she reported that the flames were under control. According to Ansa, there were also injuries.
As of Sunday evening, the fire brigade spoke of more than 1,500 missions nationwide. Almost 5160 firefighters and 15 fire-fighting aircraft were in action throughout the day.
Forest fires in Turkey
In Turkey, thousands of emergency services have been fighting forest fires in the Mediterranean region for almost a week. So far, eight people have been killed by the devastating fire. The south-west Turkish provinces of Antalya and Mugla are particularly hard hit.
In the meantime, 122 of 129 fires have been brought under control, as the communications director of the Turkish President, Fahrettin Altun, announced to the German press agency on Monday night (02.08.2021). However, numerous holiday resorts had to be evacuated, such as the resort of Turunc in Marmaris. In addition, the extreme heat persists. On Monday, the temperatures in the affected regions were 40 degrees. (Carolin Eberth with dpa)
The global impact of forest fires is increasing. Fires are currently raging in Russia, Canada and the USA. Rescue workers fight the flames.
Rubriklistenbild: © Uncredited/AP/dpa
