Aug. 19, 2021
Wildfires continued to devastate Greece and France today as flames decimated a pine forest, homes burned near Athens and firefighters tamed fires in the French Riviera.
France’s Var regional administrator Evence Richard said that the fire was considered stabilised, meaning not spreading, but warned that rising temperatures and changing wind forecasts for the weekend could bring more bad news.
The fire has killed two people since it started on Monday – a man in his 50s who died at his home in Grimaud, a few miles inland from Saint Tropez, and a 32-year-old woman on vacation in the same village.
By today, the blaze had eaten through 20,015 acres of forests and other vegetation, including vineyards, and forced 10,000 people to evacuate.
More than 400 firefighters near the village of Vilia in Greece continued to fight a blaze near the capital. Hundreds of wildfires burned across Greece this month.
The conflagrations have stretched Greece’s firefighting capabilities to the limit, leading the government to appeal for international help, including through a European Union emergency response system.
Intense heat and wildfires have also struck other Mediterranean countries. Recent outbreaks have killed at least 75 people in Algeria and 16 in Turkey.
Scientists say there is little doubt that climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is driving more extreme events
Published at morningstaronline.co.uk
