ATHENS – “There are no active fronts in any of the fires that the fire brigade’s forces are fighting at this time,” fire brigade press spokesperson Fire Major Yiannis Artopios said in an emergency press briefing on Tuesday.

He reported that a fire that started in Fokida spread to cover 300 hectares of farmland and 900 hectares of low vegetation, while strong fire-fighting forces remain at the forests where fires broke out in Portes, Achaia and Sernikaki, Fokida.

According to Artopios, there have been 311 forest fires in Greece during the past week, of which the most significant were those of Schisto in Korydallos, those in Aspropyrgos and Elefsina, one in Perea in Thessaloniki, Gazi in Heraklion, Crete, Rodakino in Rethymno, Crete, Karystos, Aliveri and Kampos on Evia, in Paiania, Havari, Ilia, Asopia and Schimatari in Viotia, Porto Katsiki in Lefkas, Mount Athos, Kambi on Zakynthos, Portes and Sernikaki.

Artopios said that a fleet of 84 aircraft, more than ever before, were assisting in fire-fighting efforts in 2022, of which 44 are leased and 40 belong to the Greek state fleet.

He warned that the fire risk on Tuesday was extremely high and conditions that favoured the spread of fires are forecast to prevail, with the fire brigade and civil protection forces remaining on standby. “We must all of us be on standby, however. Only in this way can we protect the natural environment, property and – above all – human lives,” Artopios added.