Dozens of tourists were evacuated from a 5-star hotel Resort on the island of Alonissos on Wednesday night as the wind was pushing the blaze towards to the resort facilities. The evacuation was ordered by the Civil Protection Agency for precautionary reasons.
A total of 70 people evacuated the resort on three boats while members of the Greek Coast Guard were also on board. They were transferred to the island port, Patitiri.
The manager of Marpounta Village Resort told state news agency amna that the tourists were to be transferred back to the hotel as of 10 o’ clock in the morning.
All tourists are in good health, the island mayor told state broadcaster ERT.
The fire broke out in the area pf Gerakini/Lakka by Marpounta in a pine forest short after Wednesday midnight.
Local Fire fighters struggle all night to take the blaze under control, more firemen were deployed from other Sporades islands.
On Thursday morning aerial means were set in the battle against the fire.
By 12 noon on Thursday, the operation to extinguish the blaze was still at full speed.
According to first estimations, 110 acres of pine forest have been burned down.
Speaking to state ERT TV, Alonissos mayor, Petros Vafinis, said the fire was clearly due to arson.
Wild fires are a plague each and every summer in Greece, burning down thousands of acres across the country, killing wild life and farming animals and causing immense damage to the environment.
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