Keystone-SDA
Firefighters in Greece managed Thursday to circumscribe a large forest fire which threatened Patras, the third largest city in the country. However, water bombers continue to combat fires on three other fronts.
(Keystone-ATS) The situation in Patras (west), the main Greek port to Italy, has improved a lot after a fight against the flames overnight, said firefighter spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis on television.
In Patras, the firefighters were now facing “scattered” homes, but the fire was “still active” in the east suburbs of the city with more than 200,000 inhabitants, he said.
On Wednesday, a children’s hospital and a retirement home had been evacuated while the fire had dangerously close to the city.
Three fronts
Other important fires raged Thursday on the Ionian island of Zante (west), the Aegean island of Chios (East) and near the western city of Pressveza, said the spokesman.
About 600 teams on the ground and nearly 30 water bombers were deployed at dawn on all sites. The decrease in the intensity of the wind has favored efforts to fight fire.
Greece has known several major forest fires since June that destroyed more than 20,000 hectares. The fires have been favored by very high temperatures, which scientists attribute to the aggravation of climate change induced by humans.