Tough fight continue for the third day that the fire brigades are fighting the two fronts of the fire in Xylokastro, as the Minister of Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilias pointed out to SKAI, at the same time mentioning that today will also be a difficult day due to the flare-ups.

One front is located southwest towards Sofiana and Sortanaiika where helicopters are operating and the other west over Derveni. Mr. Kikilias emphasized that today two helicopters are expected from Koratia and Italy that will help with the fires.

The minister, when asked about the large dimensions of the fire, noted that it started from a plot of land in a mountainous area and for this reason ground forces could not arrive immediately.

For the loss of the two men Mr. Kikilias expressed his regret, characterizing the event as tragic, while appealing to the citizens not to get involved in the fires and to leave the work of extinguishing to the fire brigade as well as to the trained volunteers.

He also said that since March we have had a record number of fires and that the clearing of the forests continues, a task that is however difficult as he noted.