Damage, damage, and broken windows were assessed on Friday morning by residents of Nea Anchialos following the deafening explosions at Air Force ammunition depots in the area, which led to the evacuation of all areas within a 3-kilometer radius on Thursday afternoon.
«Sources» at the Hellenic Air Force told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) that «no human lives were at risk» and claim that all appropriate fire safety measures had been taken, however, the camp «was evacuated around 5:45 p.m. when the fire had come dangerously close and could not be contained, in order to avoid any risk to personnel.».
«The New Democracy government bears enormous responsibility for the fact that the country has been burning from one end to the other for the past ten days, to the point where even sensitive military installations have been left unprotected and thousands of people are in danger. Mr. Mitsotakis’s assurances regarding the “readiness of the state apparatus” have collapsed, revealing the complete incompetence of the so-called »state apparatus” to deal with the fires,” SYRIZA-PS emphasizes in a statement.
«We did the best we could,» says the Mitsotakis government
It’s as if he were living in another country; V. Kikilias ignored the utter chaos and the image of the «bureaucratic state» crumbling during the emergency press conference on the devastating wildfires. Among other things, he claimed that… «we did the best we could under the circumstances.»
The situation on the front lines
On Friday morning, however, according to the Fire Department, the fire in Magnesia is looking more manageable, as late last night (Thursday) the problem was localized in Mikrothives, where there was a flare-up which, however, according to the Fire Department, has been brought under control, and at present there is only some scattered smoke. Throughout the night, ground crews worked tirelessly to contain the flare-ups, and at first light, aerial units began dropping water. Currently, 90 firefighters are on the scene, along with 4 teams of ground crews, 31 vehicles, and, from the air, 5 aircraft and 1 helicopter so far.
As a reminder, yesterday, Thursday, many settlements in Magnesia were evacuated (the areas of Nea Anghialos, Stoupi, Velanidia, Marathos, Kritharia, Soro, Chrysi Akti Panagias, and Agios Georgios, Kastraki, Kokkino, and Perivleptos), while in Nea Anchialos in particular, scenes—unfortunately not unprecedented—of the evacuation of civilians by sea unfolded, with private boats transporting residents to Volos. The Volos Exhibition Center welcomed more than 1,000 people after being converted into a reception and shelter facility for citizens evacuated from areas threatened by the fire.
On other fronts
The situation regarding the fire on Rhodes is also looking better, according to the Fire Department. Yesterday during the day, the fire flared up again in a remote area of Vati but was immediately brought under control, with no settlements at risk. In fact, yesterday residents and visitors in the areas of Malona, Haraki, Massari, Asklipio, Kiotari, Vati, Gennadi, Lachania, Plimmiri were notified via 112 that the danger posed by the fires had passed and that they could return to those areas. A similar message was sent the day before yesterday for the areas of Lindos, Kalathos, and Pefkos.
The devastating effects of the fire on Rhodes, as captured in a video by the international news agency Reuters:
A drone's view of the devastation caused by wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes pic.twitter.com/IfF6XC7SmV
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 27, 2023
Fires flared up again yesterday in the northern part of Lamia; however, according to the Fire Department, the situation has improved and the flare-ups have been brought under control.
As for Corfu, according to the Fire Department, the situation is looking better and there are no major problems, and the same is true for Karystos.
