In Italy and Turkey, firefighters have been fighting forest fires for some time. Now fires have broken out due to the drought caused by the heat wave in Greece.
Rome – Hundreds of firefighters continued to fight the devastating forest fires in Sicily on Sunday. A little more than 800 people are in action, the fire brigade announced in the morning.
In the past twelve hours, the helpers have gone out more than 230 times because of bushfires. All over the country, fire-fighting aircraft from the national fleet flew deployments in the fight against the flames. In addition to some provinces in Sicily, they also aimed at targets in Calabria on the tip of the Italian boot and in the Adriatic region of Apulia.
In Sicily, the big city of Catania has recently been particularly hot – holiday resorts there were also affected. Mayor Salvatore Pogliese wrote on Facebook of “completely destroyed” areas in the south of the city. Families and companies were affected by the fires. Temperatures in Sicily have been around 40 degrees Celsius in the past few days. Due to drought, heat and strong winds, the flames spread quickly. Some fires have been attributed to arson.
Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi signed a decree on Sunday morning with which Sicily should receive further support from other Italian regions. The Sicilian regional president Nello Musumeci had asked for help. According to the civil protection authority, teams are to be sent from South Tyrol, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto.
Heavy rains in northern Italy
The situation is different in northern Italy. There, heavy rainfalls in South Tyrol, among other places, caused cellars to fill up, floods and fallen trees. In the Sarntal north of Bolzano, the fire brigade documented lightning strikes in a video. The civil protection authority of Italy had previously sent a storm warning for the north. The pre-Alpine regions in the north of Lombardy and around Lake Como were also particularly at risk.
The Coldiretti Agricultural Association anticipated damage of several million euros for farmers in northern Italy. During the storms, hail damaged olive trees and corn fields and affected fruit and vegetable cultivation.
Forest fires now also in Greece
Greece continues to suffer from a permanent heat wave. In addition, numerous fires have broken out due to the drought. At least 16 people had to be treated for respiratory problems in hospitals on the Peloponnese peninsula, the state television reported on Sunday. Several houses in the area of the small town of Egion were destroyed. The fires were contained on Sunday morning. The risk of fire remains high because of the drought, warned the civil defense.
Meanwhile, the “historical heat wave” – as numerous meteorologists call it – is continuing. After the thermometers showed values of up to 43 degrees in the past few days, temperatures around 45 degrees were expected in places on Sunday. The Greek weather office announced on Sunday that there will be a new highlight on Monday and Tuesday. What is bad is that it stays hot even at night, especially in the metropolitan areas, with temperatures above 30 degrees.
The cities opened air-conditioned halls for residents who do not have air conditioning at home. Working outdoors should be reduced as much as possible, the Ministry of Labor said. Animal welfare associations called on the residents to provide water for stray animals in shady places and to refill the water bowls over and over again. When the heat will subside is unclear. Some meteorologists feared this dangerous situation could last for up to two weeks.
Villages evacuated in Turkey
Thousands of emergency services are fighting serious forest fires in Turkey for the fifth day in a row. On Sunday night, several villages in the Bodrum holiday region were evacuated, as Mayor Ahmet Aras said. Among other things, the people were brought to safety by boat across the sea.
From an eastern suburb of Bodrum, 100 Russian tourists were also brought to safety on Saturday evening, as the Russian consulate general in Antalya announced on Facebook. They had been relocated to new hotels and were out of danger. Another village in the province of Antalya also had to be evacuated on Sunday, as the broadcaster NTV reported.
Turkey has been fighting the worst forest fires in years since Wednesday. Forest Minister Bekir Pakdemirli announced on Sunday that five of the originally more than 100 fires were still active. There are still fires in the southern and western Turkish provinces of Antalya and Mugla. Strong winds fanned the fire again and again and made it difficult to extinguish the fire.
At least six dead from fires
According to official information, the fires have so far claimed at least six deaths – five people died in Antalya and one person in Marmaris. Hundreds were injured.
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the affected regions and assured the victims of quick help on Saturday evening. The number of fire-fighters has increased to 16 with the support of Russia, Iran and Ukraine, he said. The Turkish government has been criticized for days because the country has numerous helicopters, but not its own fire-fighting aircraft that are operational. According to Erdogan, there are also 45 fire-fighting helicopters, drones and thousands of emergency services in action.
A fire in Marmaris was caused by children, said Erdogan. The investigation into the cause of the other fires would continue, and arson is not ruled out. Turkey is currently suffering from a heat wave. Temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius are also predicted for the coming days in the affected regions. dpa
