‘Ecological disaster’ feared as Greece battles forest fire
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ATHENS, May 23, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Hundreds of firefighters battled Greece’s first major forest fire of the summer on Saturday, as experts warned of a “huge ecological disaster” in the nature conservation area near Athens.
The fire, which broke out late Wednesday in the Geraneia mountains some 90 kilometres (55 miles) west of the capital, is “one of the biggest in the past 20 to 30 years, and has come early in the season,” fire chief Stefanos Kolokouris told ANT1 television.
He said better weather conditions allowed firefighters to bring the main front of the outbreak under control late on Friday, but there remain “several active and scattered” blazes.
Greek firefighters begin to control forest fire near Athens
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23/05/2021 - 12:56 More than 270 firefighters, backed by 16 aircraft and by the army, are fighting the blazes Yorgos KONTARINIS Eurokinissi/AFP/File 3 min
Athens (AFP)
Greek firefighters said Sunday they were slowly bringing under control a major forest fire in a nature conservation area near Athens as the government promised financial aid to those affected.
No injuries have been reported so far in Greece s first big forest fire of the summer, but around a dozen houses have been destroyed or damaged and villages and hamlets evacuated in what experts warned could be an ecological disaster.
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