Forest fires in Greece claim their first victim June 22, 2024

The fire was "caused by fireworks launched from a boat," the island's seasonal firefighting team said on Facebook. (Reuters)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Forest fires in Greece claim their first victim

Greek firefighters on Friday battled forest fires sparked by three days of strong winds that left at least one person dead, authorities said.

A 55-year-old man collapsed and died while helping to fight one of the four large fires raging in the south of the Peloponnese peninsula, where several villages have been evacuated, according to a fire department spokesman.

Dozens of firefighters battled to put out a blaze near a power plant on the outskirts of the town of Magapoli, with six water bombers and two helicopters brought in to help, according to Greek news agency ANA.

The other fires occurred in the regions of Argolis, Messenia, and Achaea, in the Peloponnese, at a time when the peninsula was beginning to reach the peak of the tourist season.

"The conditions are extremely challenging," fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told reporters.

"The wind speed exceeded 95 kilometers per hour in some regions," said Vathrakogiannis, who highlighted how the winds were hitting the planes that were dropping water on the fires.

In total, he said, "45 fires were reported across the country".

The man who died lived in the village of Myrtia, in the Peloponnese. A spokesman for the fire department told AFP that, according to witnesses, he collapsed while fighting the flames around his village. Several houses were destroyed or damaged by the forest fires.

The fire department contained a blaze near the seaside resort of Mavro Lithari, near Athens, Vathrakogiannis said, urging civilians to take precautions. Two other villages southeast of Athens were evacuated on Wednesday.

Greek authorities have warned of a growing risk of forest fires due to strong winds and high temperatures, which in some areas reached 40 degrees Celsius (101 Fahrenheit).

Accustomed to scorching summer heat, Greece has been bracing itself for weeks for a particularly difficult forest fire season.

After the warmest winter in its history, the Mediterranean nation experienced the first heatwave in its history last week, with the mercury reaching 44°C (111°F) in some areas.

Last year, a strong two-week heatwave was followed by devastating forest fires, in which 20 people died.

The blazes consumed around 175,000 hectares (432,000 acres) of forests and farmland, according to the Athens National Observatory.

Scientists warn that fossil fuel emissions caused by humans are worsening the duration and intensity of heatwaves around the world.

Rising temperatures are leading to prolonged forest fire seasons and increasing the area scorched by blazes, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

hec/tw/bc