Ecological succession

The fire isn’t affecting the storage area; it’s burning with low intensity amidst sparse vegetation

We always had and always will have wildfires in Greece. We will also have big fires that can't be extinguished for days and cause massive destruction - and not only us. Even countries with inexhaustible means and vast firefighting experience, such as the United States and Canada, have experienced wildfires that could not be put out out for days and caused unimaginable damage.

A large wildfire broke out in a forested area northeast of the city of Larissa, in central Greece, the Fire Service said on Monday.

The blaze is located near the village of Kypselohori. 

Units of the Fire Service are on their way while it has also requested the assistance of aerial means to limit the spread of the fire. 

The EU has said it is doubling its aerial firefighting fleet for the summer of 2023, citing challenges such as increasing forest fires due to the climate crisis.

More than 100 active wildfires in western Canada that continue to grow have led to new evacuation orders, AFP reported.

About 30,000 people have been asked to leave their homes in Alberta, where more than two dozen fires are still burning.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called the situation "unprecedented" and declared a state of emergency on Saturday.

The destructive force of wildfires in Greece since 2003 has been illustrated in a study by the National Observatory of Athens, which showed 10 of the most severe ones destroyed more than 280,000 hectares of vegetation.

Testifying for the 10th day, Dimitris Liotsios, the forensic expert witness who investigated the circumstances that turned the fire in East Attica in July 2018 into a tragedy that resulted in 104 deaths, referred again to the chaos and confusion regarding the deployment of airborne means to fight the blaze. 

Blazes that have torched tens of thousands of hectares of forest in France, Spain and Portugal have made 2022 a record year for wildfire activity in southwestern Europe, the EU's satellite monitoring service said on Aug. 12. 

A Turkish expert has advised authorities to sell all the trees burned in last month's wildfires that devastated forests in 53 provinces out of all 81 late July and use the money collected in the fight against future forest fires.

According to data from the General Directorate of Forestry, some 133,000 hectares of land have been burnt.

By Antonis Karakousis

The unrelenting wildfires of August that destroyed the pine forests of Evia and Attica and harmed large tracts in Ilia, Messinia, and Eastern Mani stirred a sense of bitterness among all Greek.