Over 130 firefighters with the help of water-dropping aerial means have been battling a big forest fire that broke out in the popular seaside resort of Porto Germeno in North-West Attica on Tuesday. Residents of a nearby settlement have been ordered to evacuate.
According to latest information, one house located some 300 meters from the beach and near the castle where the fire started has been burned down. Mayor of Vilia, Konstantinos Makrynoris told media.
Some 30 people in Mytikas settlement have received SMS message via the 112 emergency line to evacuate to the Psatha beach.
Locals in the area, many of them farmers and breeders, told media “we have animals, dogs in Porto Germeno but they don’t allow us to go there to protect our assets. We have a neighbor briefing us on what is going on there, but we too have to go down because they have not cleared the area, the mayor does nothing.”
The fire broke out in the pine forest between the castle of Porto Germeno and the village of Vilia in the foothills of Mount Kythairon short after 12 o’ clock noon.
The Fire Service has deployed to the area over 135 firefighters and 35 trucks, five ground teams and 10 water-dumping aircraft to contain the blaze. The firefighters are assisted by a team of Romanian colleagues who arrived in Greece last week in the context of EU Civil Protection support mechanism.
Strong winds blowing in the area with over 5 Beaufort spread the fire very quickly, making the firefighters’ work difficult.
State broadcaster ERT reported at 3 o’ clock news magazine that the strong north-western winds are pushing the flames to another popular seaside resort, the Alepochori and to the east, toward the mountain in difficult to access areas.
Note that more or less the same area known for its beautiful pine forests was on fire also last year, still black in the picture above.
The Fire Service said on Tuesday that 311 wild- and forest fires broke out within a week.
