Firefighters have been deployed on all fronts, but gusts of strong winds, in some cases reaching 8 Beaufort, are creating new conditions, while at the same time people and machines are trying to create protection zones of the villages under threat.
Such zones were created in the village of Afrati and Kamaria, in order to protect them and give time to the fire brigade to deal with the fire, while they have also created intermediate zones with vehicles and earthmoving machines, trying to take advantage of even a small retreat of the strong winds.
The ground firefighting forces have been strengthened and, now, there are 183 firefighters with 8 forest commando teams and 52 vehicles. At sunset, the 19 aerial vehicles (the two coordination ones) stopped the drops. Moldovan firefighters, who arrived in the area, are also participating in the effort to extinguish the fire. These are the firefighters who were again in Evia in the deadly fire in 2021.
According to the fire department, the situation is difficult due to the geomorphology of the ground and the strong winds. The fire broke out at noon in the Pissonas area. Wind gusts reach 7 bf, while very low moisture levels are constantly creating patches and new outbreaks further south of the fire.
That is why three messages were issued by 112, the first for information, the second for the removal of residents from the settlement of Afrati and the third was issued for the removal of the small settlements of Kamari, Kalyvia and Agios Georgios Armas in the direction of Chalkida.
From the first moment the fire broke out, very strong ground and air forces were working. At the moment, 145 firefighters with 7 forestry teams and 43 vehicles and a large number of volunteers are fighting the flames. 19 aerial vehicles, 11 aircraft and 6 helicopters have been allocated for aerial firefighting and 2 more helicopters for their coordination.
The local government and the Armed Forces are assisting with project machinery and water carriers. Greek Police forces have been deployed in the area to facilitate the movement of residents. All civil protection forces are coordinated by the OLYMPOS Mobile Operations Center.
At the moment, the operation to create fire zones is underway, with the assistance of the Forestry Service and the help of work machines, mainly north of the Afrati settlement, where the front has the greatest potential.
Today is an extremely difficult day for the Fire Service as our forces have tackled and continue to battle dozens of fires across the state. In Pefkodasos Kilkis, Achladochori Serres, Lagada Thessaloniki, Meligala Messinia, Notomata Kefalonia, Kyparissia Megalopolis, Geraki Ilia and in other areas the ground forces of civil protection with the assistance of aerial means faced very dangerous fires.
Fire in Evia: Smoke reached 150 kilometers away from the front
meteo.gr has published an EUMETSAT satellite image, which shows the dispersion of the thick smoke, which in the late afternoon (19:00) of Wednesday, July 31, 2024, had moved over the Myrtle Sea, traveling a distance of more than 150 km.
The large spread of smoke is also shown in the following video, which covers the period from the start of the fire until the late afternoon (19:30) of Wednesday, July 31, 2024.
Regional Governor of Central Greece: “The situation is becoming particularly serious”
“The situation is developing into a particularly serious one,” the regional governor of Central Greece, Fanis Spanos, told APE-MPE. “We are trying to create a front to deal with the flames when they reach a residential area. All forces are concentrated around the village of Afrati. Fire moves fast. Our hope is that the winds will change” added the regional governor.
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