Firefighters battle wildfires to save homes on the Greek island of Evia | Greece

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In scenes more echoing of the war, trained firefighters backed by a rugged army of locals wage a “superhero” battle overnight to extinguish the whip-lashing fires that raged for an eighth day on the Greek island of Evia.

With the order to evacuate another village on Tuesday, a multinational force of nearly 900 firefighters was at the site in a desperate attempt to stop the blaze engulfing the northern town of Istia.

The fire service said that in addition to 873 firefighters, 50 ground teams and 229 vehicles were working to put out the blaze.

In cold conditions brought on by unprecedented summer temperatures, Greece was at the center of a storm of wildfires that also saw Italy and Turkey.

In a televised address late Monday night, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said it was clear that the country was suffering from a “natural disaster of unprecedented proportions”. He said firefighters were forced to deal with 586 fires that broke out and were exacerbated by a heat wave that is expected to intensify again this week. Mitsotakis said the crisis reflected the reality of climate change.

“The past few days have been the most difficult for our country in decades,” said the leader, who apologized for the failures in the chaotic emergency response.

Sky lights up red over ferry to evacuate people from Greek island fire – video

Hell in Evia, Greece’s second largest island, was the worst in the country, wiping out vast tracts of virgin pine forests and destroying countless homes. In Mantoudi municipality, more than 1,000 homes have been burned, with communities in the far north now facing the same prospect if the fires are not put out.

In Evia and southern Peloponnese, where hell also raged, the phenomenon of fires that had been rekindled after having been previously put out hampered efforts as fires, spurred by unexpected winds, jumped to life.

“We are talking about the 30-meter high flames that suddenly appeared,” a woman in Evia told state broadcaster ERT, while her husband lamented that there were no wet planes and helicopters coming to the rescue.

The sky was covered in smoke and ash obstructed the vision of pilots from the 22 countries that took part in the assistance. Yesterday, Turkey and Russia said they would also send aircraft to bolster reinforcements already sent by Europe, countries in the Middle East, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the absence of aircraft over Evia, bulldozers were seen early Tuesday morning causing bushfires. Since the crisis began last week, with wooded suburbs blazing on Athens’ northern fringes, locals have been seen using anything they can use to protect their homes – from garden hoses to rudimentary buckets.

By Monday, some 2,600 people had been evacuated from Evia on a fleet of boats, with the elderly and infirm forced to seek shelter on ferries or sleep on sun loungers on the beach.

Recognizing the devastating fires that left 103 people dead in the coastal towns of Mati and Kokino Limanaki in July 2018, the government has prioritized saving lives. But some residents say the eviction orders were premature and only allowed estates and key forests to be set on fire that would otherwise have been saved.

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