New Forest Fires in Greece Lead to Evacuations
A forest fire in the Greek coastal town of Nea Makri, about 40 kilometres northeast of Athens, led to preventive evacuations on Monday.
The new forest fire raises additional concern after the large-scale fires that already ravaged large parts of the country during a heatwave last month.
About seventy firefighters and twenty fire engines have been deployed so far to fight the forest fire. The fire broke out around 10:35 PM, close to Nea Makri’s homes. Last weekend it was again very warm in Greece, with as much as 35 degrees in some places and 32 degrees on Monday.
The Greek fires in August reduced more than 100,000 hectares of forest to ashes. Many other countries around the Mediterranean – Spain, Italy, Croatia, France, Cyprus, Algeria and Turkey – also struggled with large-scale forest fires in the summer.
