Nature's Fury: Wildfire In Greece Destroys Area Larger Than New York City
Greece was plagued by many flames this summer, which the government blamed on climate change. The wildfire has flamed a place as large as New York City.
A gigantic wildfire has swept Greece, scorching an area larger than the historic metropolis of New York in a tragic natural calamity that has shocked the world. The developing disaster has pushed the country to its breaking point, attracting international attention and sparking urgent calls for action.
The wildfire blazing in northern Greece for 11 days has devastated an area greater than New York City, according to the European Union-backed Copernicus Climate Change Service, as firefighters from five countries battled the flames.
The fire originated near Alexandroupolis and swiftly spread across the Evros area, killing at least 20 people last week in Europe's deadliest conflagration this summer, fueled by gale-force winds and hot heat.
It burnt the lush flora and devastated homes and livelihoods.
Greece's Catastrophic Blaze: Region Bigger Than New York City In Ruins
Credit: Reuters
According to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, the fire had devastated at least 808.7 square kilometres (312.2 square miles). New York City covers an area of 778.2 square kilometres (300.5 square miles).
Last week, Copernicus reported that the fire was the largest on European soil in years, and authorities warned that it was still hazardous.
According to the fire department, aircraft and hundreds of firefighters on the ground from Albania, Serbia, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic were battling the flames.
"We're trying to defend the rest of the unaffected area before the front line of fire comes," said Jiri Nemcik, commander of the Czech force. "Because the fire is developing rapidly, it is extremely dangerous."
Satellite photographs show the magnitude of the devastation in the area, where once-luxurious pine trees have been reduced to scorched, skeleton bark. According to Panagiota Maragou, head of conservation of the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Greece section, at least 30% of the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli Forest National Park has been lost.
The national park was "one of the most important protected areas in Greece and also in Europe, perhaps also on an international scale," she claimed, owing to its rich biodiversity.
According to a statement from his office, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis presided over a meeting on Tuesday on the flames that have ravaged Greece, discussing preventative measures, among other things.
Environmentalists have long accused Greece of prioritizing fire suppression over prevention. "We've seen in the case of Dadia, and in the case of the Evros fire in general... one of Europe's largest fires, that a system that relies solely on fire suppression is not working," Maragou said.
Credit: AFP
Summer wildfires are expected in Greece, but the government claims that exceptional weather conditions linked to climate change have exacerbated them this year. In 2018, the deadliest fire in Greece's history killed 104 people outside of Athens.
All except one of those killed in the Evros fire are suspected to be illegal migrants who crossed from Turkey while escaping authorities in the forest.
Authorities are concerned that more bodies will be discovered once the fire is extinguished. Evros is a significant crossing into the EU for thousands of migrants and refugees each year.
According to Greece's Racist Violence Recording Network, the flames have fueled anti-immigrant sentiment in the region.
Credit: AP
Last week, three individuals were arrested after a video on social media showed migrants in a trailer hauled by a jeep, with a guy heard inciting citizens to "round up" migrants he accused of starting the fires.
According to an official at the Citizens' Protection Ministry, a prosecutor launched a preliminary investigation into a separate incident on Tuesday after another video posted on social media showed four men, believed to be migrants, sitting on a dirt track beside a jeep, and a local man filming them.
As to the official, the individual who came to the Alexandroupolis police station was wanted for his alleged involvement in the "forcible immobilization" of migrants.
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