Wildfires Continue to Rage Across Greece, Cutting Island in Half and Forcing Thousands to Flee

As of Saturday, a Fire Service spokesperson told AP that containment efforts were “going well” for a major fire that swept through the forested slopes of Mount Parnitha, a national park north of Athens.

Ferries evacuated roughly 1,400 people from Evia, the country’s second-largest island, after a blaze flared up over Friday night and effectively cut the island in half, blocking other means of escape.

A makeshift flotilla of Coast Guard patrols, ferries, passenger ships, and fishing boats has been stationed near the island’s northern tip in case other residents and tourists need rescue, a Coast Guard spokesperson told AP. Terrifying footage of the evacuation was shared on Twitter, which you can check out below.

Wildfires have sparked in other nations across the region as well, including in Italy, Albania, North Macedonia, and Turkey.

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, which is managed by the European Union, recently labeled the Mediterranean region a “wildfire hotspot” due to its unprecedented levels of activity this summer, which Greek and European officials are blaming on the effects of climate change. Indeed, the climate crisis has dried out large parts of the Mediterranean. A study of drought conditions from 1998 to 2012 found that it was the worst to hit the region in at least 900 years, and the climate crisis played a role in driving its intensity. The fires fit a pattern of more large, destructive wildfires, including deadly Greek blazes in 2018.

On Wednesday, the European Commission mobilized emergency response forces from France, Cyprus, the Netherlands, and other nations to send firefighters and aircraft to contain the blazes across the Mediterranean region.

Two massive fires continued to ravage the Peloponnese peninsula on Saturday, one near Ancient Olympia and one in the Mani region, according to AP. A local official in Mani estimated that around 70% of her area had been destroyed so far.

“It’s a biblical catastrophe. We’re talking about three-quarters of the municipality,” East Mani Deputy Mayor Eleni Drakoulakou told state broadcaster ERT via AP.

She and other officials and residents in southern Greece took to radio and television programs to amplify their pleas for more firefighting assistance.

Greek Civil Protection Deputy Minister Nikos Hardalias said Friday that firefighters are facing “exceptionally dangerous, unprecedented conditions” trying to put out dozens of wildfires across the nation, AP reports.

“Over the past few days, we have been facing a situation without precedent in our country, in the intensity and wide distribution of the wildfires, and the new outbreaks all over [Greece],” said Greek Civil Protection Deputy Minister Nikos Hardalias via AP. “I want to assure you that all forces available are taking part in the fight.”