Winds Complicate Efforts to Extinguish Greece's Fires

Athens (AFP) – Greece’s Civil Protection Minister, Evangelos Tournas, reported that hundreds of firefighters are making strenuous efforts to extinguish wildfires threatening a popular coastal resort and other areas, amid strong winds sweeping across the country.

In a televised address today, Tournas explained that the fierce winds created “extremely difficult conditions, which in many cases rendered aircraft unable to scoop up or drop water due to severe turbulence.”

The Fire Service said more than 400 firefighters were battling blazes in the Porto Germeno area on the Corinthian Gulf, about 70 kilometers northwest of Athens. Meanwhile, around 100 firefighters were tackling another fire in Aegialia, north of the Peloponnese peninsula.

Yannis Artopoulos, assistant to the Fire Service spokesperson, told state television channel ERT that the winds were so strong that firefighters on the scene “could not even open their vehicle doors.”

According to meteo.gr, the website of the National Observatory in Athens, wind speeds reached up to 130 kilometers per hour today.