Neighboring countries send aircraft to aid Greece with wildfires
July 24 (UPI) -- Raging forest fires on the Greek island of Corfu forced authorities to evacuate more than 2,400 people Monday from 17 settlements, while rescue operations on Rhodes continued into a third day.
Civil protection forces were battling the flames with the help of firefighting aircraft and helicopters sent from as far away as Egypt.
The Corfu evacuation mounted by police, fire, coast guard and the Ionian regional government came as an out-of-control blaze that started Sunday afternoon threatened communities in the northeast of the island, Fire Marshal Vasilios Vathrakogiannis, of the National Coordination Center for Operations and Crisis Management, told a briefing.
Reinforcements were deployed from the mainland to help local firefighters tackle the blaze, along with four light aircraft and three helicopters. There have been no reports of damage, he added.
Vathrakogiannis said "a major resurgence" of the blazes on Rhodes saw eight aircraft deployed -- two from Turkey and one from Croatia -- as well as 10 helicopters, including three from Egypt.
More than 19,000, mostly tourists, were evacuated from affected parts of the island over the past few days. British package holiday firms and airlines were Monday sending empty aircraft to Diagoras International Airport to collect tourists stranded there or holed up in schools, conference halls and gymnasiums after being forced to flee their hotels and villas.
EasyJet and Jet2 said they had begun sending evacuation flights to bring their customers home, while Jet2 said it was halting all scheduled inbound flights for the next seven days. Easyjet said it would operate two repatriation flights Monday and a third on Tuesday, while Jet2 said it sent five empty aircraft to Rhodes on Sunday and all flights due to depart British airports Monday for Rhodes would do so empty.
"Due to these extraordinary circumstances, we have canceled all flights and summer holidays that are due to depart to Rhodes up to and including Sunday, July 30," Jet2 said in a Twitter post. "We believe this is the right thing to do for everyone, and we will be contacting affected customers with regards to their refund or rebooking options."
The National Coordination Center for Operations and Crisis Management said six communities in the southern part of the Aegean island of Evia, 350 miles to the southeast, had been ordered to flee a fire that broke out around noon local time on Sunday after strong winds fanned the blaze, pushing it toward the villages.
Two towns in Achaia region on the mainland peninsula were evacuated as firefighters, backed up by three helicopters and four aircraft, battled a blaze spreading eastward since first light amid difficult conditions and smoke blanketing the area. Investigative officers from the Megalopolis Fire Department arrested a man suspected of setting fire to crop residues.
Authorities warned of extreme fire risk in several regions of the country through Monday night.
A heatwave and high winds were believed to have contributed to the spread of wildfires on a number of Greek islands and other parts of the country that have been raging since early last week.
However, Rhodes officials said only about 10%-20% of the island's tourist districts are impacted and the remainder of the island is safe.
