Greece has requested EU assistance to battle more than 100 wildfires stoked by fierce winds and dry conditions, the fire service said on Tuesday, as blazes flared across southern Europe.
The most dangerous new fronts are burning on the popular tourist island of Zante and parts of western Greece, including the Achaia region in the Peloponnese where around 20 villages were evacuated, the service said.
Faced with the escalating situation, Greece has requested four water bombers from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told a press briefing.
Given the severity of the fires across Europe’s southern flank one might expect the EU mechanism to be overwhelmed with demand, but so far neither Spain, nor Portugal, nor France, have submitted a request.
Police are investigating the causes of the blazes on suspicion of arson due to the large number of outbreaks in western Greece.
Ferocious winds reaching up to 88 kilometres per hour have lashed the country since last week, fanning a wildfire south of Athens in which one person died, and are due to continue until Thursday.
More than 22,000 hectares have burned in Greece this year, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
Spain, Portugal and the Balkans were also battling wildfires as a heatwave struck southern Europe, extreme weather that scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying.
(cp)
