Thousands of people have fled wildfires burning out of control in Greece and Turkey, as a protracted heatwave turned forests into tinderboxes and flames threatened populated areas, electricity installations and historical sites.
In Greece, firefighters were battling 56 active wildfires on Friday, according to Civil Protection chief Nikos Hardalias, who said conditions were “exceptionally dangerous”. One man died north of Athens after being struck by a falling utility pole, while dozens of evacuation orders were issued on the mainland and the island of Evia. The fire near the capital burned forests and houses as it headed towards Lake Marathon, Athens’s main water reservoir.
On Evia, the coastguard mounted a major operation to evacuate hundreds of people by sea, using patrol vessels and fishing and tourist boats. A coastguard official described the scene as “the apocalypse”, and said 668 people had been rescued from beaches by early Friday afternoon after flames cut off other escape routes. Another rescue was under way near Gythio in the southern Peloponnese.
In Turkey, wildfires described as the worst in decades have swept through the southern coast for ten days, killing eight people. On Friday, six neighbourhoods near Milas were evacuated as a wind-driven blaze burned within 5km of a power plant. At least 36,000 people have been moved to safety in Mugla province alone, and excavators were clearing firebreaks to protect the Yenikoy power plant, the second such facility threatened.
The climate crisis has been blamed for the fires across southern Europe, from Italy to the Balkans, as well as blazes in Siberia and California. Greece has endured its most protracted heatwave in three decades, with temperatures reaching 45C. More than 1,000 firefighters and nearly 20 aircraft are battling the flames, with reinforcements arriving from France, Switzerland, Romania, Cyprus, Croatia, Israel and Sweden.
