Greece fires – live: Rhodes state of emergency remains as flames reach outskirts of Athens

Fire Service spokesman Ioannis Artopios said 12 villages were ordered to be evacuated

Plane fighting wildfires in Evia crashes

A wildfire has triggered a series of massive explosions at an air force ammunition depot in central Greece.

The depot was evacuated before the explosions, which shattered windows in the surrounding area. No injuries were reported, although continued blasts prevented firefighting teams from approaching the site.

Greek state broadcaster ERT said the facility is in the coastal town of Nea Aghialos near the Volos area.

The fire reached the ammunition storage facility about four miles north of the major military air base in Nea Anchialos. Local media reported that bombs and ammunition for Greek F-16 fighters were stored at the site

The fighter jets are reportedly being moved from the air base.

Fire Service spokesman Ioannis Artopios said 12 villages were ordered to be evacuated in the Volos-Nea Anchialos area.

Meanwhile, the blaze reached the outskirts of Athens, with 61 fires breaking out across the country in 24 hours.

Deadly wildfires on Greece’s mainland have killed two as wildfires spread in Europe and north Africa including Greece, Portugal, Turkey, Italy, France, Croatia, Spain, Algeria and Tunisia.

Key Points

• Fire risk remains ‘extreme’ for several areas of Greece today, fire brigade warns
• Mainland Greece hit by fresh wildfires overnight
• ‘It was like an apocalypse’: Palermo journalist recalls overnight blaze
• UK advises people visiting Greece to carry ‘appropriate insurance’

[28 July 2023 05:30 · Andy Gregory]

Firefight continues for tenth night in Rhodes

With firefighters and volunteers out trying to dampen the flames for the 10th consecutive night in Rhodes, The Independent visited scorched areas in the south where fires still smouldered on Thursday night.

Blackened ground and the charred remains of trees scarred the landscape for kilometres on end in the formerly lush hills near the village of Vati, stretching all the way to the coast at the devastated town of Kiotari – with the blaze having torn through much of this area in a single day.

(Andy Gregory/The Independent)

Four Canadair firefighting jets flew in coordinated line across the forest, dousing the remaining flames further into the hills in large plumes of water from above, as volunteers tackled the blaze as best they could below.

Some cheers also went up in the car of volunteers with which The Independent travelled as a huge “Multi Jumbo Truck” – a Leopard battle tank converted into a fire engine – passed us heading towards Vati.

A converted battle tank is brought to help fight the fires near Vati (Andy Gregory/The Independent)

While the dozens of trained and civilian firefighters assembled at Vati’s Pelecanos Taverna remained vigilant to each new flare-up, there was hope that the fires could finally be coming to an end.

“Today is the first day we can smile,” one firefighter said, as he rested at the tavern between journeys.

[28 July 2023 06:00 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Firefighters battle bush fires in Italy

In Italy, firefighters battled brush fires in the southern mainland regions of Calabria and Puglia, as well as the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, helped by temperatures dropping by about 13 degrees into the mid-30s C.

Flames forced the evacuation of bathers on a popular stretch of the southern Adriatic coast near the town of Ugento in Puglia, local media reported.

Since Sunday, firefighters have fought more than 3,200 wildfires in southern Italy, nearly half of them in Sicily and almost 900 of them in Puglia, Italy’s national firefighters corps said yesterday.

A firefighter helicopter drops water in the scrub area in Palermo (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

[28 July 2023 06:20 · Andy Gregory in Rhodes]

‘If not for the volunteers, all of Rhodes would be burnt’

Stavros, a 48-year-old from the city of Rhodes who was going to fight the fires with his 18-year-old son, said he had been tackling the blazes near the hillside village of Vati for three days.

“It’s the 10th day, we are really tired, we want to finish this,” he told The Independent. “We go to [fight] the fire, then come back to eat, rest a little bit. The heat is unbelievable. It was many days of [temperatures in the high 30s].

“Many people here haven’t slept for three days in a row. There are young kids, 16, 17, 18 – this is unbelievable for us, because all of us were like one team. If we didn’t have all the volunteers, all of the island would have been burnt, that’s for sure.”

“After five days, they started to bring more airplanes, but it was [just] five in total. It wasn’t much for this fire – this is a huge fire, the biggest in all the years here. The last fire was in 1987, this is bigger than this.”

Describing having feared becoming trapped by the blazes yesterday, Stavros said: “The fire was really close to the village two days ago, and a fire started from the other side as well.

“We trust the people living in the villages, because the old people know the ways to leave. Yesterday when we were waiting for a big fire to come, we had a rescue plan,” he said.

Volunteer firefighters survey the charred remains of trees which could smoulder for days near Vati (Andy Gregory/The Independent)

[28 July 2023 06:40 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

When will heatwave in Europe end?

Southern European countries suffering under a sizzling heatwave for weeks can finally hope for some respite as a new forecast reveals “subtle changes in the jet stream” that are expected to bring temperatures down.

With shattered temperature records, devastating wildfires in Greece and tragic loss of lives, people have been anxiously awaiting relief from intense heat conditions that gripped Europe this month.

The latest forecast from the UK’s Met Office offers a glimmer of hope as conditions are projected to shift slightly, indicating the weakening of the heat dome that enveloped the southern part of the continent.

Stuti Mishra reports.

[28 July 2023 07:00 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Tragic ‘last words’ of hero pilots who died fighting wildfires

The tragic last words of two heroic pilots who died fighting wildfires in Greece have been revealed, as blazes continue to rage across Europe.

Commander Christos Moulas, 34, and co-pilot Pericles Stefanidis, 27, were killed just before 3pm on Tuesday when their plane, which had been dropping water, crashed near the town of Karystos on the island of Evia near Athens.

A firefighter on the ground is believed to be the last person to speak with the pair, telling Greek broadcaster OPEN: “I still can’t believe that three minutes ago I was talking to them and after exactly 10 minutes I learned that the plane had crashed.

Tara Cobham has more.

[28 July 2023 07:20 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Is it safe to travel to Turkey?

Turkey has joined other holiday destinations across Europe in being struck by wildfires while in the grip of high temperatures.

Mediterranean countries have seen days of flames, first seen on the Greek island of Rhodes but since spreading to Corfu, Sicily and parts of Portugal, France and the Canary Islands.

In Turkey, 10 planes, 22 helicopters and more than 200 vehicles have been deployed this week in the firefighting efforts in Kemer area, with some 120 hectares of woodland burned, tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy told reporters.

Before the extreme heat and wildfires affected Europe, the Foreign Office (FCDO) already had three travel warnings in place for Turkey.

Benjamin Parker has more.

[28 July 2023 07:40 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Blazing wildfire rips through southern Turkey

Aerial footage shows raging wildfires ripping through Antalya, Turkey.

The video shows bright orange flames lighting up the night sky as aircraft pass overhead.

Antalya, known as Turkey’s “capital of tourism”, has been battling spreading wildfires as high temperatures have been felt across the region in recent days.

[28 July 2023 08:02 · Andy Gregory in Rhodes]

Volunteer firefighters in Rhodes lament animals lost to fire

As well as their homes and livelihoods, civilian firefighters in Rhodes have been fighting to protect the animals with whom they share the island.

Among them is the Dama-Dama deer, a protected species unique to Rhodes, whom volunteers have been attempting either to rescue or to leave bowls of water and food visibly scattered strategically across the vast areas of scorched earth in the fire-ravaged parts of the island.

One volunteer firefighter , a 45-year-old named Pantelis Saroukos showed The Independent the area near Vati that he – along with many other beekeepers – had brought his hives each summer for the past five years due to the bountiful thyme growing there, until the plants were irrecoverably scorched by the wildfires.

While he had removed his hives before the fire could reach them, a fellow beekeeper several kilometres away near the village of Asklipio had not been so lucky – with the hives visibly licked by flames and a nearby storage shed left crumpled and warped.

The remains of beekeeper’s hives and storage shed near Asklipio (Andy Gregory/The Independent)

“If I was this beekeeper, I would not bring my bees back here ever in my life,” said Pantelis, lamenting that it would take 25 to 30 years for the landscape to regrow, before adding: “Maybe his grandchildren can.”

Some minutes later, he mused: “Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was proud to say no lives were lost before the Canadair crash [near Athens this week].

“But I don’t know if someone told him about the deer, donkeys, tortoises – all the animals. Thousands of animals have been killed.”

[28 July 2023 08:31 · William Mata]

Rishi Sunak’s net zero plans in doubt as key green pledges face being scrapped

The government’s plans to tackle the climate emergency have been thrown into turmoil as Rishi Sunak signalled he could delay or even abandon green policies that put financial pressure on families.

Downing Street has been forced to insist its pledge to reach net zero by 2050 “remains”, but the prime minister’s spokesperson said he is “making sure we listen to consumers and business” and will “continually scrutinise” plans such as the banning of new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030.

Read Archie Mitchell’s article here.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (PA Wire)

[28 July 2023 08:40 · William Mata]

Picture shows rabbits and cat being rescued

A picture of a Greek firefighter rescuing two rabbits and a cat from wildfires is being shared across social media.

Details of the rescue could not be verified any further.

A Twitter user wrote: “Firefighter in Greece rescues two rabbits and a cat from the wildfires that are raging across the country right now.

“Men who rescue animals are the best men.”