(Adnkronos) – Greek firefighters are still battling today a wildfire that broke out yesterday on the tourist island of Paros in the Aegean Sea, which led to preventive evacuations on Tuesday night into Wednesday. “The fire broke out yesterday evening in Kampi, near a landfill in the western part of the island and spread south” and to the center of the island “due to strong winds,” said Yannis Artopios, deputy spokesperson for the Fire Department on public television Ert.
“Currently, two planes and five helicopters are fighting the flames, supported by about a hundred firefighters,” he added, emphasizing that “the situation has improved.”
The night between Tuesday and Wednesday was “difficult” according to local authorities, but “today (Wednesday) the fire is not as strong,” confirmed elected official Vazeos Petropoulos, local administrator of Paros and the neighboring island of Antiparos, both very popular destinations for Italian tourists.
“There are still scattered outbreaks” and “we must be vigilant,” Petropoulos told public television Ert. According to local authorities, about ten localities have been evacuated as a precautionary measure. The flames have devastated bushes and shrubs. The number of evacuated people has not yet been released.
Located in the Cyclades archipelago (southeast) in the Aegean, Paros is one of the most touristy islands in the region, after Santorini. Every summer, Greece is affected by wildfires due to high temperatures, frequent heatwaves, and drought.
Dozens of other wildfires have broken out in recent days across Greece due to strong winds, but according to the Fire Department, they were contained in time, without causing casualties or serious damage. This summer, the country has so far been spared from the prolonged heatwave affecting other European countries, particularly France and Spain, where large fires are still raging and thousands of people have been evacuated.
Last week, a three-day heatwave occurred with temperatures locally reaching 43 degrees Celsius. According to the official website of the meteorological services, this is the third time since 2011 that the 40-degree threshold has been reached so late, after July 20, 2015, and July 30, 2013.
