A forest fire has reached a seaside resort in Greece. Several houses and the beach were evacuated. The fire on the island of Lesvos can even be seen from space. The news ticker.
- Forest fire reaches seaside resort in Greece : The fire can even be seen from space.
- Fire in Tenerife : people in several communities are leaving their homes as a precaution.
- Forest fires in Slovenia : Duds from the First World War hinder the extinguishing work
- This news ticker is updated regularly.
Update from July 24, 12:09 p.m .: The forest fire on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife has decreased in intensity. The fire is losing strength and there is hope that the flames could be brought under control shortly, the newspaper El Día quoted island president Pedro Martín on Monday.
According to official information from Sunday, the flames have already destroyed more than 2150 hectares. Around 150 firefighters were deployed. Higher humidity and less wind made their work easier. At around 30 degrees, the temperatures were also not as extremely high as before.
The many other forest fires in Spain in recent weeks have now been extinguished or largely brought under control.
Forest fires in Greece: Fires on Lesvos still out of control
Update from July 25, 10:40 a.m .: In Greece, large forest fires continued to rage on Monday night. In the north-east of the country, there was a fire in the Dadia National Park for the fifth day in a row. There were 320 firefighters with 68 fire engines, six firefighting planes, two helicopters supported by the military in action. In the southern part of the island of Lesbos, the fire has also not yet been brought under control. Thousands of hectares are said to have already burned there, the daily Kathimerini reported. A large fire broke out on Sunday in the western Ilia regional district of the Peloponnese peninsula.
A forest fire that broke out near Yosemite National Park in the US state of California on Friday has continued to spread. More than 6,000 hectares of land are now affected and the fire is still not contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on Sunday. Over 2,000 firefighters are deployed along with 17 fire-fighting helicopters to contain the flames. The so-called Oak Fire is raging mainly in the Mariposa district east of San Francisco and has already destroyed ten houses and damaged five others. More than 6,000 people were evacuated, according to a spokesman for the California Fire Department.
Forest fires in Slovenia: Duds from the First World War make extinguishing work difficult
Update from July 24, 10:28 p.m .: The heat wave in Europe is also leading to extreme forest fires in Slovenia. Firefighters have been battling the flames there for days. On Sunday, 2000 firefighters, civil protection officers and volunteers fought the forest fires in the Slovenian karst region. “Inhumane efforts have been made, but now the end of the operation is near,” said Defense Minister Marjan Sarec.
The winds in the region had reignited the flames again and again and made it particularly difficult for the emergency services. In addition, duds from the First World War made extinguishing work more difficult. In order not to endanger people on the ground unnecessarily, the Slovenian fire brigade increasingly relied on firefighting from the air.
Colleagues from Italy feared the flames would spread near Gorizia on the border with Slovenia at the weekend and took hundreds of people to safety as a precaution.
Forest fires in Greece: Fire on the island of Lesvos seen from space
Update from July 24, 7.40 p.m .: The fires continued to rage uncontrollably on the Greek island of Lesbos on Sunday. The smoke was so strong there that it could be seen from space. This was announced by the European earth observation system Copernicus on Twitter and posted a corresponding satellite image.
Meanwhile, in northeastern Greece, countless hectares of the Dadia National Park burned. The military and forest workers tried to cut aisles in the pine forests and thereby prevent the flames from spreading further. In the meantime, more than 320 firefighters with 68 fire engines were deployed.
The extreme temperatures in Europe are causing drought, fires and deaths in many places. Spain is suffering the worst heat wave since the 1950s. By the end of July, more hectares of forest had burned there than in any other year since data collection began. Portugal is experiencing the worst drought in around 20 years and more than 1,000 people have already died from the extreme heat. In addition to the fires, Italy is also suffering from extreme water shortages.
Fires in Greece: Uncontrolled fires on Lesvos island and in Dadia National Park
Update from July 24, 3:10 p.m .: The massive fires on the island of Lesvos and in the Dadia National Park in northeastern Greece also raged uncontrollably on Sunday. On Lesbos, the residents of the village of Vrisa on the south side of the island were asked to leave the village at noon.
Fires rage in Greece: coastal town evacuated
Houses and cars fell victim to the flames. According to the fire department, 141 fires were registered across Greece within 24 hours. According to civil protection, almost all available fire-fighting helicopters and aircraft are currently in use nationwide. In Spain, the situation eased – apart from the Canary Island of Tenerife.
Fire in Tenerife: Several communities evacuated
Among other things, a substation of the state electricity company caught fire near the city of Larisa in Thessaly. Also on the western edge of the capital Athens must be deleted again. For Monday, the fire brigade still assessed the risk of fire as high to very high. Meteorologists announced high temperatures of up to 40 degrees and drought by the beginning of August.
Although the situation eased in Spain, the series of forest fires never ended. A fire on Tenerife caused concern on Sunday. The flames have already destroyed more than 2150 hectares on the island, which is popular with tourists, regional president Ángel Víctor Torres said late Saturday evening. 585 residents of La Guancha and four other communities in the north of the island have been brought to safety.
The approximately 150 emergency services have recently made great progress in fighting the fire, also thanks to higher humidity and weaker winds. The temperature increase announced for Sunday and Monday up to 38 degrees is worrying. “So we have to put out the fire as soon as possible,” Torres said.
Italy preparing to fire from encroaching Slovenia
Meanwhile, around 350 people were brought to safety in Italy near Gorizia (Gorizia) on the border with Slovenia. The reason is the fire in Slovenia, which could spread to Italy because of the strong wind, the fire brigade said on Sunday night. The place Savogna d’Isonzo was affected.
Forest fire reaches seaside resort in Greece: beach and hotels evacuated
First report from July 24: Athens – Forest fires continue to rage in southern Europe. Greece is currently being hit particularly hard. A major fire destroyed the forest of Dadia National Park, one of the largest forested areas in south-eastern Europe. A second major fire raged on the south side of the holiday island of Lesvos. The civil defense ordered the evacuation of the coastal town of Vatera.
Fire in Greece: Popular seaside resort has to be evacuated
On Saturday, the forest fire and the correspondingly heavy smoke reached the bathing resort popular with tourists. Two hotels and more than 90 houses had to be evacuated, reports the Tagesschau , citing the local police. A total of 450 people were brought to safety.
The Coast Guard had previously announced that they had evacuated the beach. According to dpa information, residents of Vatera had sought shelter here.
At least ten houses in the village were damaged, local media reported.
Forest fires are raging in Greece – emergency services at the limit
The situation in the nature reserve of Dadia in north-eastern Greece remained difficult. The flames destroyed a biotope where numerous birds of prey and wild animals live. The area is densely forested and there are hardly any roads. For this reason, the fire brigade is trying to contain the flames from the air with firefighting aircraft and helicopters, a spokesman for the fire brigade said on Saturday afternoon.
Most of Greece’s 86 fire-fighting planes and helicopters are deployed to fight the flames, according to civil defense. Smaller fires were raging in the Peloponnese peninsula, Greek state radio reported.
Drought and high temperatures would hit almost all parts of Greece in the coming days and create “the perfect backdrop” for further fires, meteorologists warned on the radio. Temperatures in central Greece were already around 38 degrees early on Saturday morning. In some places, the thermometer should show values of more than 40 degrees Celsius in the afternoon, the meteorological office said. It should be even hotter at the beginning of next week, and the heat will last until the beginning of August, it said. (dpa/rjs)
