Greece's fire-fighters battled to contain at least six large wildfires burning out of control across the country Friday and declared a state of emergency near its north-eastern border with Turkey, requesting European partners to help by sending in water-dropping planes.
The blaze in the north-eastern region of Evros forced the evacuation of two villages and destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of forest, though there have been no reports of injuries, officials said. Two firefighting aircraft which arrived from France on Friday afternoon were assisting Greek authorities in containing the fires while two more planes from Spain were also scheduled to arrive as well as reinforcements from Portugal and Italy.
High winds were fanning wildfires and hampering operations to extinguish the blaze on eight fronts in Evros. Authorities were forced to seek help due to the large number of forest fires which broke out across Greece, which were estimated to hit 80 over the past 24-hours.
Six large blazes still remained out of control and officials feared there would be a high risk of more fires over the next few days as high winds and scorching heat were forecast. The government declared a state of emergency as the blaze in Evros, which began Wednesday, rapidly spread near the villages of Melia and Kila, where residents were evacuated. Hundreds of foreign students at a holiday camp were also evacuated as the fire swept through more than 25,000 hectares of forest and farmland.
"The situation is quickly turning into a major catastrophe," said the mayor of Alexandroupilis, Evangelos Lamakis. More than 300 fire-fighters, army conscripts and volunteers assisted by nearly 50 fire trucks battled throughout the day to contain the huge forest fire that has destroyed more than 47,000 hectares of forest and farmland. Police arrested a local farmer suspected of accidentally starting the blaze after his faulty tractor set fire to dry undergrowth.
Other wildfires were reported in the central towns of Mesolonghi, and Ioannina as well as the Ionion island of Zakynthos. Meanwhile fire-fighters managed to extinguish fires in the residential areas of Parnitha and Glyfada, near the Greek capital Athens. The Mediterranean country is often hit by forest fires during the hot, dry summer months, leading to the destruction of thousands of acres of forest and entire villages in recent years. Wildfires ended up killing 65 people in 2007, destroying villages and thousands of hectares of forest in the Peloponnese.