Fire in Samos: The battle with the flames continues – Forces have arrived from Athens

The battle of the Fire Department with the flames in Samos continues, while it is expected that water drops from the air will start shortly. In the middle of the night, 28 firefighters from Athens arrived by air, as well as an infantry unit, who already threw themselves into battle.

At the moment we have a reduction in the intensity of the winds and the fire did not spread as it did in the previous hours, said the mayor of West Samos, Alexandros Lymberis, speaking to SKAI.

He added that now that dawn has dawned the island is waiting for air help. We hope to have a demarcation of the fire during the day” added the mayor.

As he said, Makria Pounta, from where the fire passed, but no houses were burnt, Limnionas, from where around 400 tourists were taken to a safe place, have been evacuated, while Agia Kyriaki was also evacuated as a precaution.

We have losses in the forest and olive trees, but fortunately no houses were lost, Mr. Lymberis added and asked for the forces to move as quickly as possible.

The coordination of the extinguishing is the Coordinator of North, South Aegean and Crete Operations, Deputy Fire Chief Konstantinos Dadoudis. Also at the scene are the Commander of the N. Samos Police Station Stavroula Bone and the Commander of the Samos Police Station George Miaoulis.

For today Thursday, a very high risk of fire is expected in Attica, Peloponnese, Central Greece, Evia, Crete, Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria.

“The fire is very big, the fire department is cautiously optimistic, as the winds are strong” the regional governor of the North Aegean, Konstantinos Moutzouris, told SKAI.

The fire started from an agroforestry area near the settlement of Paleochori in Marathokampos and burned a large area of ​​the Municipal apartment, destroying scattered houses as well as the Monastery of Agios Giannis the Merciful.

According to information, it is assumed that the fire was caused by a PPC pillar. Earlier yesterday afternoon, a Fire Brigade helicopter with a four-member crew that was attempting to extinguish the fire in Palaichori, Samos, crashed.

Two of the four crew members lost their lives and one, the pilot of the aircraft, was located and rescued by the Coast Guard, while the fourth crew member reportedly managed to swim to shore unharmed.

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