Due to the strong winds, a wildfire that began in western Peloponnese on Friday evening is still ongoing.
This fire occurred on Friday evening in Ahaia region and later spread to the Ilia region next door, necessitating evacuation orders by the authorities of numerous villages. In Peloponnese, one volunteer firefighter died while another who had been caught up in Ilia was given first aid at hospital before being discharged, according to state-run Athens News Agency.
Greek firefighters have been under pressure since Wednesday when a wildfire broke out near Athens, which was the first this season close to Greek capital city. In the last three days alone, there have been calls to put out hundreds of fires including 64 blazes between Thursday evening and Friday evening.
Wind speeds reached 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour as properties were damaged or destroyed on Friday. Although winds will be slightly less by tomorrow, Peloponnese will remain under “very high” fire alert status.
About 1.3% of Greece’s land area scorched from wildfires in 2023. Earlier this month, a record hottest June day was recorded in the country and it is expected that Saturday will see some 40C (140F). Furthermore due to weather conditions both Athens and its greater area are likely to remain under very high wildfire alert throughout today.
On Friday when southeastern Europe sweltered a blackout affected certain areas of Bosnia, Croatia, Albania and Montenegro which resulted into problems with public transport systems and internet as well as people getting trapped in lifts.
As a result of climate change this year may become the hottest ever recorded with fatalities from blistering temperatures and extreme weather events increasing from India through Saudi Arabia up to United States as well as Brazil.
