For the ninth day a fiery blaze consumes Evros with constant flare-ups and settlement evacuations.

Firefighters and residents are fighting with the constant flare-ups trying to contain the fronts that are reaping with the winds.

Shortly after 2 in the afternoon, an order was given to evacuate Lefkimmi to Tychero.

Twenty minutes later, with a new 112 message, the residents of the village of Kassitera are asked to evacuate towards Sapes, on the front towards Rodopi.

The Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection is in Evros, in order to obtain a complete picture of the devastation caused by the fire in
area.

Mr. Kikilias flew over the burned areas, ascertaining the scale of the ecological disaster, while participating in a meeting with local actors, firefighters and police.

As he mentioned, the investigation into the causes of the fire is ongoing.

On Monday morning, a large number of government echelons will visit the area, in order to immediately decide the actions for the immediate start of repairing the damages. Minister of Territories Makis Voridis, Minister of Citizen Protection Yiannis Oikonomou, Minister of Rural Development Lefteris Avgenakis and Deputy Minister of Interior Thodoris Livanios will be in Evros, among others.

The firefighters are fighting to prevent a greater disaster in the forest of Dadia, where rare species of birds are endemic.

The first indications are that the reproduction of the black vulture, the rare species, which fortunately had completed this year’s cycle shortly before the fire broke out, was not affected.

The fire that continues to burn the forest of Dadia leaves behind a huge ecological disaster in the only forest in all of Europe where you can see 4 different species of vulture.

In the heart of the Dadia National Park, there was and was a model forest recreation area. It had many courts, areas for the entertainment of visitors as well as many buildings for their overnight stays. None of this exists any more, all surrendered to the fury of destruction.

The biggest fear is that the fire will not pass into the core of the forest, where rare species of animals and birds have found refuge.

As explained by Anna Konstantinidou, head of the technical park management unit of the Evros delta and Dadia, in the forest of Dadia we meet 36 of the 38 species of birds of prey in Europe and the last black vulture population. It is a very important area for birds of prey.

“The biggest risk is that the fire does not escape and pass through the narrow core where there is a large colony of black vultures,” he emphasizes.

Already the ecological disaster that has been caused is great.

Not only Greek forces have been thrown into the extinguishing battle, but also reinforcements from abroad, which in fact are faced with extreme and unprecedented situations.

“The fires, compared to the fires we are facing in the Czech Republic, are completely different, despite the fact that we had the information, while we were traveling here, that 10,000 hectares had burned in 24 hours, it is a size that we could not imagine while the temperatures prevailing in the country are very difficult”, emphasizes a Czech firefighter, Head of the ground forest fire team.

They try to block the front in every way.

A wide fire zone 170 meters wide has been created.

This fire zone was opened during the night and helped to save the settlement.

“We are 46 personnel with 5 fire trucks and an ambulance with two doctors and a rescuer. Our mission is to help as much as possible in extinguishing fires. Let’s support the fire brigade of Greece in this difficult battle”, emphasizes Leonard Tsouras, Representative of Civil Protection of Albania.

Strong firefighting forces remain in the forest of Dadia, as flare-ups are continuous.

Firefighters across the country are on standby for fear of an increase in the intensity of the winds expected from Monday morning.