It was short after 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 25, when residents of Loutses in the north of the island of Corfu received a message to evacuate their village.
“If you are in the Louches area, evacuate now to Arachavi. Forest fire in your area. You are following the instructions of the authorities,” the message sent via emergency line <112> read.
The fire broke out on the mountain of Pantokratoras on Sunday forcing the evacuation of locals and tourists from several villages and settlements. continues to spread.
There are currently two fire fronts of the wildfire on Corfu rekindled on Tuesday at the point it broke out, namely near the village Loutses. The second front is raging at a remote area between the villages Palia Perithea and Lafki.
According to state broadcaster ERT, on Monday afternoon the situation appeared to be under control and there was a relative lull.
However, the fire flared up again in the early morning hours of Tuesday.
The front intensified and has already reached the Anapausis area, a few kilometers from the village of Lutses. media report around 12 o’ clock noontime.
Firefighters on foot, water trucks of the municipality of northern Corfu along with volunteers assisted by water dropping helicopters are battling the blaze in both fronts, struggling to prevent that the flames reach houses.
There are currently south winds blowing with intensity of 4 Beaufort.
