Hundreds evacuated on tourist boats from Greek island as wildfires continue to spread

Hundreds evacuated on tourist boats from Greek island as wildfires continue to spread

Hundreds evacuated on tourist boats from Greek island as wildfires continue to spread. image: Twitter

Hundreds evacuated on tourist boats from Greek island as wildfires continue to spread across the country.

Greek Police went door to door today, Friday, August 6, to urge people to leave their homes in an area north of Athens as emergency crews struggled to stop wildfires from spreading to more towns while scorching winds fuelled blazes across Greece for the fourth day in a row.

Greece, like much of the rest of Europe, including Turkey, has been grappling with extreme weather this summer, with many blaming climate change as the cause. A week-long heatwave – its worst in 30 years – has sparked off simultaneous wildfires in many parts of the country, burning homes and killing animals as flames tear through thousands of acres of tinder-dry land.

At least 56 active fronts were burning across the country on Friday, from the Peloponnese in the west to the island of Evia near Athens, where hundreds of people had to be evacuated by boat as flames burned through forestland to the shore.

“The fire in Attica is dangerous. It’s unpredictable,” the head of Greece’s firefighters federation, Dimitris Stathopoulos, told Skai TV, referring to the wider region which includes the Greek capital.

Thousands of people have fled their homes since wildfires on the foothills of Mount Parnitha just north of Athens burst back into life late on Thursday, and authorities ordered the evacuation of several suburbs.

“Conditions are extremely dangerous,” Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos Hardalias said.


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Ron Howells

Ron actually started his working career as an Ophthalmic Technician- things changed when, during a band rehearsal, his amplifier blew up and he couldn’t get it fixed so he took a course at Birmingham University and ended up doing a degree course. He built up a chain of electronics stores and sold them as a franchise over 35 years ago. After five years touring the world Ron decided to move to Spain with his wife and son, a place they had visited over the years, and only bought the villa they live in because it has a guitar-shaped swimming pool!. Playing the guitar since the age of 7, he can often be seen, (and heard!) at beach bars and clubs along the length of the coast. He has always been interested in the news and constantly thrives to present his articles in an interesting and engaging way.

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