(ANSA) - BELGRADE, AUG 9 - Firefighters tried Monday to
prevent fires from reaching key communities and a thick forest
that could fuel an inferno that one official said has destroyed
hundreds of homes in seven days on the Greek island of Evia. If
most of nearly two weeks of fires had stabilised or receded in
other parts of Greece, the ones on rugged and forested Evia were
the most worrying and created apocalyptic scenes. Firefighters
were putting the priority on saving the villages of Kamatriades
and Galatsades on Monday because "if the fire passes through
there, it will end up in a thick forest that will be difficult
to extinguish," firefighters told the Greek news agency ANA.
After the fire laid siege to one village after another on the
north of the island, firefighters also toiled until dawn to
quench flames at Monokarya in order to protect the town of
Istiaia, all without the help of water-dousing aircraft, ANA
reported. Thick and suffocating smoke on Monday also enveloped
the coastal region of Pefki, where hundreds of villagers had
been evacuated by sea, while others regrouped, an AFP reporting
team said. (ANSA).
© Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved