
Firefighters battle wildfires on Greece's Chios island for second day
Some 190 firefighters assisted by six aircraft were trying to contain the blazes and keep them away from homes and areas known for their production of mastiha, a natural resin harvested from mastic trees.
Gusts of wind on Monday complicated efforts to extinguish the wildfires which have burnt forest and pasture land, forced dozens of villagers to flee their homes for safety and caused power cuts, a Greek fire brigade official told Reuters on condition of anonymity on Monday.
Sitting at Europe's hot southernmost tip, Greece has felt the economic and environmental impact of frequent wildfires in recent years that scientists say have been exacerbated by a fast-changing climate.
The country has spent hundreds of millions of euros to compensate households and farmers for damage related to extreme weather and acquire new and modern firefighting equipment to deal with wildfires.
It has hired a record number of firefighters this year in anticipation of a difficult fire season.
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Reuters
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Daily Mail
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In İzmir Province, more than 50,000 residents were forced to flee 41 settlements in late June after firestorms engulfed entire villages. The flames later reached Dörtyol in Hatay, triggering the evacuation of another 2,000 people. Tragically, at least 17 people have been confirmed dead, including volunteer firefighters, civilian responders, and locals overwhelmed by the flames in Eskişehir, Bursa, and Karabuk. In Bursa alone, nearly 1,800 residents were displaced as 1,900 emergency crews scrambled to contain several active fires. Footage shared online shows thick black smoke blanketing motorways and panicked families loading belongings into cars as embers fall from the sky. Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on X: 'We remain on alert day and night with 27 aircraft, 105 helicopters, nearly 6,000 ground vehicles, 25,000 heroic forestry personnel, and 132,000 volunteers.' 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