A wildfire in the forest area of Petries in south Evia has forced the evacuation of at least two villages and brought a wind turbine to explosion that put in danger the lives of firefighters and volunteers. One firefighter has been injured.
The firefighter was slightly injured with burns in the fingers and was transferred to the Health Center of Aliveri with an ambulance. His injuries are not considered life threatening.
In another incident, a fire truck was completely destroyed by the wildfire.
#Πυρκαγιά #Εύβοια
Η πυρκαγιά βρίσκεται σε εξέλιξη. Η καταγραφή των εστιών απο το δορυφορικό συστημα FIRMS της NASA.
Ο σαφής διαχωρισμός των δύο ομάδων εστίών μάλλον αποκαλύπτει εμπρησμό με τις δύο διαφορετικες ενάρξεις με απόσταση μεταξύ τους. pic.twitter.com/r3QmW2uorK— PROMETHEUS Team – Disaster Intelligence (@PROMETHEUSTeam1) July 29, 2024
The flames brought a wind turbine in a wind farm in Petries to explosion and pieces fell near a group of firefighters and volunteers working nearby. Nobody was injured, local evima.gr reported.
The blaze started at 15:17 Monday afternoon in a forest area between the villages of Petries and Krieza in the municipality of Kimi – Aliveri.
The wildfire spread quickly as winds have been blowing with intensity of 4 Beaufort with gusts reaching 7 Beaufort.
Petries, Krieza and other settlements were evacuated early in the afternoon and the village of Koskina in early evening.
The Coast Guard has been set on alert to help with the evacuations if needed and police officers have been deployed in the area to assist in the evacuation of residents who have received a total of four alert sms messages via the Emergency Line <112>.
Due to the fire, police have temporarily halted vehicle traffic on the Lepoura-Karystos road from Krieza to Koskina, as well as on the Petries-Agioi Apostoloi road. Drivers are advised to exercise extreme caution in these areas and follow the directions of traffic officers.
Video via state broadcaster ERT
More than 180 firefighters, two teams on foot and 36 engines, water trucks from nearby municipalities and machinery from the Armed Forces have been struggling against the blaze. The local forces have been enhanced with colleagues from other parts of Greece.
Until the sun set 16 water dropping aircraft and 8 helicopters had operated. They will resume their fire-combating work with the first daylight early on Tuesday morning.
Police officers have been deployed in the area to assist in the evacuation of residents.
According to the Fire Service the blaze is developing near houses between Krieza, Petries and Alonia.
Η φωτιά τώρα, έξω από την Κοινότητα Κοσκίνων, στην Εύβοια.
Πάει ο Κικίλιας να την σβήσει.…θα ξυπνήσουμε ένα πρωί και θα βρεθούμε σε μια χώρα -«νεκροταφείο». pic.twitter.com/VRYNMlUhu4
— Areti Athanasiou (@AretiAthanasiu) July 29, 2024
Ανεξέλεγκτη μαίνεται ακόμα η μεγάλη φωτιά στην Εύβοια pic.twitter.com/B0Q38FlsPX
— LiFO (@lifomag) July 29, 2024
Local media reported late on Monday that the wild fire is raging out of control and in three fronts.
There is strong suspicion of arson as two groups of fires with different starting time and distance between them have been recorded by the FIRMS satellite system of the NASA.
#Πυρκαγιά #Εύβοια
Η πυρκαγιά βρίσκεται σε εξέλιξη. Η καταγραφή των εστιών απο το δορυφορικό συστημα FIRMS της NASA.
Ο σαφής διαχωρισμός των δύο ομάδων εστίών μάλλον αποκαλύπτει εμπρησμό με τις δύο διαφορετικες ενάρξεις με απόσταση μεταξύ τους. pic.twitter.com/r3QmW2uorK— PROMETHEUS Team – Disaster Intelligence (@PROMETHEUSTeam1) July 29, 2024
Civil Protection & Climate Crisis Minister Vasilis Kikilias rushed to Evia late on Monday.
Everybody hopes that the wildfire does not cause a disaster like in August 2021.
A total of 54 wildfires have been recorded in the past 24 hours in Greece, Fire Brigade spokesperson Vasilis Vathrakogiannis said on Monday evening.
A firefighter told me back in 2021 that the fires of that year in Evia were allowed to continue (the efforts to battle the fires started late) because of the planned construction of wind farms on Evia. Nature protection just stood in the way of that construction. I don’t know if that is true or just some speculation from this firefighter but nothing surprises me.
It is terrible what happened then and what happens now but it is ironic and perhaps delayed karma that a wind turbine exploded now.
well, that’s an option howver: now they burn down the wind farms to replace them with solar panels farms? Idont’thinkso.
These things are actually firehazards themselves. They can overheat and go up into flames.