Hundreds of tourists and residents were forced to evacuate from the famous Greek resort island of Lesbos. the “heat wave” that engulfed Greece brought forest fires to its resorts, which quickly reached the resort areas, and were so close that they began to threaten tourists.
As reported by the local media, a large forest fire approached the beach resort of Vatera on Saturday evening – the flames raged a few meters from the buildings, and tourists and residents were forced to flee. The City Hall of Vatera ordered a preventive evacuation, 450 people were evacuated from two hotels and almost a hundred houses, and nine people were evacuated directly from the beach, including five foreign citizens.
So far, two houses have been destroyed by flames. No casualties have yet been reported. Fire units are deployed, and extinguishing continues.
In total, 53 fires were recorded in different regions of the country on Saturday alone. Including forest massifs burning near Athens and in the Peloponnese. Evacuation of mostly residents was also carried out there.
And, most likely, this is far from the end – since in Greece it is only the first days of a heat wave that will last at least ten days. A temperature of 42° is expected in some areas. This raises fears about new fires, the rescue services assure.