ATHENS — Τhe wildfire burning on northern Evia is at a close distance from the town of Istiea with everyone waiting of the firefighting aircraft while dense smoke has covered the town.
A few while ago there was a rekindling at the village of Galatsona which spread rapidly and took uncontrollable dimensions that can't be stopped by earth-moving machinery. The flames are a few metres away from the village.
Meanwhile, the fire front in Asmini is more dangerous and is heading to the village.
The region's large earth-moving machinery are constructing firebreaks to intercept the blaze at the village of Kamatriades.
The fire front at the village Avgaria rekindled after noon and has taken huge dimensions as the winds have increased. The fire in burning a forest in a gorge and is very difficult for the firefighters to have access to it.
Fire fronts and rekindling still threaten villages in N.Evia
Many and dangerous were the rekindling in North Evia during the night when all the firefighting forces with the support of machinery were called to give solutions to small rekindling that turned into fire fronts and threatened villages.
The flames came very close to the villages of Artemisio and Kastri while the battle with the blaze continued throughout the night at the village of Gouves.
The efforts are now focused in Monokarya to prevent the blaze reaching the town of Istiea. Priority is also given to two villages, Kamatriades and Galatsades. According to Fire Brigade's officers that are in northern Evia "if the fire passes from there it will get into a pine forest which is not accessible and it would be difficult to control it and it will finally reach the town of Edipsos. They also pointed out that the creation of fire breaks around the villages in the last hours prevented the extension of the damages inside inhabited areas.
The huge effort also continued in the south front to prevent the blaze of accessing Mt. Kandili. Over 200 Romanian and Ukrainian firefighters who arrived in Greece with their own equipment were operating throughout the night and gave a huge battle with the fire at the villages of Troupi, Kalyvia and Spathari assisted by volunteers, the region's water trucks and other machinery.
However, the Fire Brigade officers' concern is whether the firefighting aircraft will be able to fly on Monday due to the dense smoke that covers the area.