EVIA (Greece), Aug 15 (NNN-Xinhua) — Amid ongoing efforts to extinguish a destructive wildfire, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for stronger cooperation among European Union (EU) members to tackle future natural disasters.
He made the call during a visit to fire-stricken Evia island.
Fanned by strong winds, the flames threatened villages some 80 kilometers northeast of Athens, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents on Tuesday.
The fire damaged a few homes, cars, scorched farmland and some 2,800 hectares of forested zones, local officials said. No casualties have been reported.
Assisted by Italian water dropping aircrafts on Wednesday, fire fighters managed to temporarily control two fronts, but still struggled with rekindled patches on Wednesday afternoon.
“I am satisfied with the level of coordination, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” the premier told media after being briefed on the progress of firefighting efforts.
“We know that wildfires will be with us… they will be more part of our daily life as climate change is taking its toll in southern Europe and that is why it is imperative at the European level to strengthen the rescEU mechanism in order to have more coordination at the European level to fight incidents like the one we had on Greece,” he said.
Greece will support the strengthening of the mechanism, he added. Mitsotakis also pledged immediate financial assistance to the local people affected by the fires.
The area has been declared a state of emergency.
The blaze has destroyed a large part of a dense pine forest that was included in the EU’s Natura 2000 network of protected areas with unique habitats for endangered species of flora and fauna.
The damaged forest of central Evia included oaks, chestnut trees, firs, wild flowers and rare birds, experts said.
Each summer Greece suffers from destructive fires which are linked mainly to heat waves and arson.
In July 2018, a wildfire which swept through a resort near Athens resulted in 102 casualties. — NNN-XINHUA
