Greece: Hundreds of families left homeless as devastating wildfires continue to rage

On Saturday, August 7, hundreds of firefighters battled fires that burned a record amount of forests in Greece, displacing hundreds of households. The fire service stated that more than 1,450 Greek firemen, backed by at least 15 aircraft, were combating the blazes, with reinforcements arriving from abroad. After being evacuated, a 62-year-old man from Agios Stefanos told Alpha TV that he witnessed his house burn on television after being evacuated and his child is still sobbing because of shock.

France and Britain offered help

France and Britain said they were rushing to help Greece. President of France Emmanuel Macron tweeted that he had discussed the crisis with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Mr Macron announced the deployment of 80 firefighters and rescue workers, as well as three Canadair firefighting planes, through Twitter.

Priti Patel, the UK Home Secretary, tweeted on Saturday that the UK is sending a team of experienced firemen to assist Greek firefighters presently tackling the massive fires.

The fires in Greece are predicted to burn for a long time, with strong winds and temperatures as high as 38 degrees forecasted in certain areas on Saturday. And the flames so far this year have been significantly more damaging than in past years. According to the European Forest Fire Information System, 56,655 hectares have been burned in Greece in the last ten days. During the same time span, between 2008 and 2020, an average of 1,700 hectares was burned. 

Greece and Turkey battled the deadly fire for more than a week

During the region's worst heatwave in decades, Greece and Turkey have been battling deadly fires for more than a week. Extreme weather events have been connected to climate change by officials and researchers. They have killed two people in Greece and eight in Turkey so far, with scores more being hospitalised in both countries over the course of ten days. However, heavy rains gave relief to Turkey.

According to Nikos Hardalias, the deputy minister of Civil Protection, 55 fires were burning across Greece on Saturday. They were set ablaze on Evia, Greece's second-largest island, located east of the city, in the Peloponnese region in the southwest, and in Fthiotida in Central Greece. After 1,300 people were rescued from the beaches by ferry boats the night before, another 23 people were evacuated from the north of the island on Saturday morning. Off the shore, navy warships were on high alert in case extra evacuations were required.

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