Another difficult night is being spent in Evros with the fire continuing to rage and the fire brigades fighting a hard battle with the rekindlings. The fire brigades operate mainly in the areas of Kornofolia, Kotronia and Dadia.

On Sunday afternoon, 112 rang for the residents of the village of Lefkimmi in order to move away from the area in the direction of Tychero. However, with the successive drops of water from the aerial firefighting means, the strong ground extinguishing forces and the drop – in the last hours – of the intensity of the north-easterly winds blowing in the area, the large dynamics of the fire front is gradually decreasing. From the rekindling at this point today, a corral and the livestock of the breeder that were inside were burned.

In accordance with mayor of Soufli Panagiotis Kalakikos assistance in the work of extinguishing aerial means contributed the most to the interception of this specific front, which developed great tension as it passes through an area with pine trees.

The fire broke out in an area that had been affected by the fire in the previous days, when it had then approached very close to Lefkimmi.

The chief of staff of the Fire Department is in the hospital

The chief of staff of the Fire Department Christos Lambris, who was on the front line to extinguish the fire in Evros, was admitted to the Alexandroupoli hospital and is being treated. As it became known today, he inhaled large amounts of smoke, as a result of which he was transferred to the University Hospital of Alexandroupoli, where he is being treated.

75 fires across the state

In total, the fire brigades are dealing with 75 fires throughout the territory, while in the last twenty-four hours there were 42 new forest fires, most of which, according to the Fire Brigade, were dealt with immediately at their initial stage.

• 35 firefighters with 2 groups of infantry units, 9 vehicles, 4 aircraft and 1 helicopter are working on the fire that broke out today at noon in the Stefani area of ​​Corinthia. Membership is provided by volunteer firefighters and local water bodies.

• A fire in an agroforestry area in the area of ​​Karatzas Troizinia was immediately brought under control. They operate 12 firefighters with 4 vehicles, while they operated 2 aircraft.

Assistance in dealing with the fires is provided by the European Civil Protection Mechanism with forces from France, Spain, Cyprus, Romania, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Slovakia, as well as through transnational agreements Albania and Serbia.

Also, assistance is provided by a large number of volunteer firefighters, forces that have been made available by the General Staff of National Defense and the Greek Police, as well as water tankers and machinery from the Regions.

The local investigative offices, as well as units of the Directorate for Combating Arson Crimes (D.A.E.E.) are investigating the causes of the fires.

It is noted that according to the Fire Risk Prediction Map issued by the General Secretariat of Civil Protection of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection (civilprotection.gov.gr), for tomorrow Sunday, September 03, 2023, a very high risk of fire (risk category 4) is predicted for the following areas:

• Region of Attica, including the island of Kythira

• Region of Central Greece (PE Boeotia, PE Evia including the island of Skyros)

• Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (Evros Region)

• North Aegean Region (Lesvos Region, Chios Region, Samos Region, Ikaria Region)

• Region of Peloponnese (PE of Laconia)

The personnel of the Territory’s Fire Services remain on general alert, in order to deal with the increased service demands, which have arisen due to the large number of fires, while aerial surveillance patrols continue, as well as patrols by fire, police and military forces.

Finally, the Fire Brigade calls on all citizens to be particularly careful and in the event of a fire, for their own safety, to faithfully follow the instructions of the competent authorities.