Greek island’s rugged beauty and pine forests fuel flames

Hundreds of islanders pack up their belongings and flee their homes on the Greek ­island of Evia as bushfires rage.

Villagers join the fight in village of Gouves on Evia on Sunday. Picture: AFP

Hundreds of islanders packed up their belongings and fled their homes on the Greek ­island of Evia on Sunday as bushfires raged after a record heatwave.

The rugged landscape and dense pine forests on Evia that so appeal to tourists are helping to spread the flames and make the work of firefighters almost ­impossible. Even waterbombing planes are struggling, with an­ ­official telling local media much of the water was evaporating before it reached the ground.

Greece and neighbouring Turkey have been battling the devastating fires for nearly two weeks, with 10 people confirmed dead and dozens needing hospital treatment.

While rain brought some respite from the blazes in Turkey over the weekend, Greece continues to suffer a hot, dry summer.

“They burnt our paradise,” said 46-year-old islander Triantafyllos Konstantinos. “We are done.”

The blazes have destroyed homes and reduced thousands of hectares of land to ash on Evia, Greece’s second-largest island just northeast of Athens.

Civil protection deputy minister Nikos Hardalias said a fire front in the north of Evia was being pushed by strong winds ­towards beach villages.

“We have ahead of us another difficult evening, another difficult night,” he said, adding that 17 aircraft were helping to fight the fires on Evia.

However, fires in the southwestern Peloponnese region and in a northern suburb of Athens had abated, he added.

Hundreds of people have ­already fled Evia and another 349 were taken to safety early on Sunday, the coast guard said.

In Pefki village, young people carried older and disabled people over the sand on to a ferry.

Elsewhere, villagers joined in the battle against the flames, helping firefighters. “We are in the hands of God,” said 26-year-old Evia resident Yannis Selimis. “The state is absent. If people leave, the villages will burn for sure.”

Local officials were critical of the efforts to control the fires, which erupted on the island on Tuesday. “I have no more voice left to ask for more aircraft. I can’t stand this situation,” mayor Giorgos Tsapourniotis told Skai TV.

Many villages were saved only because young people ignored evacuation orders and stayed on to keep the fires away from their homes, he added.

Alexis Tsipras, leader of the main opposition Syriza party, said the government did not appear to be listening to local concerns about a lack of co-ordination and equipment. “Is there a management plan? HOW LONG will this drama drag on?” he tweeted.

Local officials were struggling to shelter those forced to flee their homes. Mr Hardalias said provisional shelter had been provided to 2000 evacuees.

From July 29 to Saturday, 56,655ha were burnt in Greece, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. The ­average area burnt over the same 10 summer days between 2008 and 2020 was 1700ha.

Police said on Sunday they had arrested at least 10 people for arson, among them three young men in Pireaus for attempting to start a fire in nearby Perama.

AFP