Nearly 400 firefighters and EU water bombers were deployed Thursday in Greece to end a fire that devastated for the third day in a row a precious nature reserve on the island of Euboea.
"We are more optimistic today"
"We are more optimistic today because the winds have calmed down," Yiorgos Kostopoulos, head of the island's civil defense office, located about 100 kilometers north-east of Athens, told ERT public television. . The firefighters managed to block fire in a ravine near the village of Platana, supported by a hundred trucks, nine helicopters and nine aircraft including two from Italy and one from Spain.
Inestimable damage
"We are doing everything possible to create new fire defenses near the village," continued Yiorgos Kostopoulos. The fire, which did not kill anyone, affected the forest of Agrilitsa, a unique pine forest, causing invaluable damage in this 550-hectare nature reserve. Greece has been affected in recent days by a series of fires under the combined effect of scorching temperatures, high winds and drought.