Global Courant
“We are at war – fully focused on the fires,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during a debate in Parliament. “Over the coming days and weeks, we must remain on constant alert.”
In addition to Rhodes, fires are also breaking out on the islands of Corfu and Evia, as well as in mainland Greece, the Peloponnese and southern Greece. With temperatures expected to rise again on Tuesday after a day of relative rest, the Fire Service has announced that most of the island of Crete, with the exception of the regional unit of Chania, as well as Rhodes and nearby islands, are facing an extreme risk (Category 5, the highest) of new fire outbreaks.
The regions of Attica, Central Greece, Western Greece, the Peloponnese, Chania, two of the four regional units of the Thessaly region (Larisa and Magnesia), the Ionian Islands, the Dodecanese Islands in the southeastern Aegean, as well as the islands of Ikaria and Samos in the North, are classified as having a high risk of fires, the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection announced.
“In Rhodes, fire is completely unpredictable. It goes everywhere, it’s completely uncontrollable. Let’s see what we can save” – said Nikos Dimelis, president of Archangelos settlement.
The fire in Rhodes looks more and more like the one that destroyed the island of Evia in August 2021.
Even in Evia, a fire that started around noon on Sunday, although it was considered “contained”, was reactivated on Monday morning, reaching the sea.
Although the Evia fire raged through villages, it is estimated to have caused little damage to houses, huts and animal sheds, locals said. However, it was also reported about the disappearance of a 38-year-old shepherd.
Police initially claimed he had been missing since before the fire started, but villagers said they saw him on Sunday and he was very worried about his sheep. The shepherd’s brother went to the local police station late Monday to report him missing.
