Greece Fires: 150 Houses Destroyed by Wildfires as Monks Refuse to Leave Stricken Island

Firefighters try to extinguish a wildfire in the village of Rovies on Evia island as Greece fires continue to rage. Photograph: Costas Baltas/Reuters
THE GUARDIAN: Villages on Evia are evacuated as blaze rages across the island, and fires also threaten suburbs of Athens and historic Olympia

At least 150 houses have been destroyed by a raging fire that surrounded a monastery and a dozen villages on the Greek island of Evia, one of over 100 blazes burning in the country.

Firefighters were also continuing to battle a blaze near Athens on Thursday morning, while the mayor of Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, pleaded for help as flames threatened the site.

The blazes erupted as Greece is in the grip of a heatwave.

“We’re waging a battle of the titans!” deputy minister for civil protection Nikos Hardalias told journalists. “The hardest is still to come.”

Experts have warned that global heating is increasing both the frequency and intensity of such fires. » | Agence France-Presse | Thursday, August 5, 2021