Greek Wildfires: Maltese Couple Witnesses Corfu Fires While Another Is Braving Them Out In Rhodes
A Maltese couple on a yachting vacation in Corfu ended up witnessing a spine-chilling event as the mountain tops in front of them raged with fire.
Greece is experiencing a difficult period as wildfires encouraged by the current heatwave Cerberus still shows no sign of abating. 82 wildfires are raging across the country.
After 19,000 were forced to flee from Rhodes,“the largest evacuation from a wildfire in the country”, new fires also broke out on the islands of Evia and Corfu.
“Well we weren’t that close but we were with many other people gathered on the ring road of old Corfu town , with others getting out of cars, to watch the sad spectacle of flames coming down the mountainside across the water,” said the yachtsman, who did not wish to be identified.
“It was like watching a huge volcano spewing lava streams down the hillside – we watched in silence as it was strangely beautiful but also very sad to think of all the wildlife being destroyed.”
Late on Sunday night the authorities called for more evacuations from Corfu and the northern Peloponnese. In the case of Corfu, they said the fire was “moving southeast on a broad front” and added that private vessels were on standby to pick up evacuees.
Meanwhile in Rhodes, a Maltese couple living there decided to brave it out as they live high on the mountains separated from the fire by a valley. The neighbours all left and they watched the grim spectacle since they had “nowhere to go.”
One of the couple, who preferred to remain unnamed, said that the situation seems to have stabilised this morning.
“Just now two water bombers passed near us to go and put out the smouldering fires in Gennadi. I can say it is under control now.”
Malta has also experienced a series of grassfires throughout the last week due to the ongoing heatwave, with the most serious one happening in Marsa last week.
Rhodes burning as water bombers pick up seawater to fight the fires
What do you make of these fires?
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