Fires are burning around Greece, from Halkidiki in the north to Ancient Olympia, from the industrial area of Aspropyrgos to the island of Evia and in the Peloponnese.
In the industrial area of Aspropyrgos, 15km northwest of the Athens centre, there are fires burning dangerously close to factories. Fires broke out at 1am Thursday. Ten fire trucks, 30 firemen and a team of firefighters on foot are in the region.
Tatoi
In Tatoi, there is damage to the former royal estate at Tatoi following the recent fires in northern Attica. Greece’s Culture and Sports Minister Lina Mendoni provided details of the damage during a press conference held on Wednesday.
“We lost a large part of the forest there,” she noted in reference of Mount Parnitha and the fire that broke out in Varybombi, adding that, thanks to firefighting efforts, “we managed to restrict the damage to a minimum”.
Some rooftops at the estate buildings were burnt, but they were temporary and made by the Culture Ministry of Greece in a salvage operation, while others were in a poor state to begin with. Wooden window and door frames were also burnt, some of which had been replaced by the ministry in recent years, she added.
READ MORE: Fires tear through Greece as Varybombi burns (Photos and Videos)
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— Konstantinos Christoforou (@KonstantinosXr) August 9, 2021
Three outhouses very close to the palace were damaged: one was an outpost, another one was partially destroyed, while the third, which was entirely destroyed, contained items of little value and in poor condition.
There was no damage by the fire for the more than 100,000 objects either in containers or on the site in general, such as horse carriages and cars. Objects in containers are being registered and turned over to conservators, while the most valuable objects have been removed to prevent theft, she said.
The Culture Ministry has already commissioned a study for the systematic reforestation of the site’s historic core of 1,600 stemmas (160 hectares), but also of the estate’s broader 6,000 stemmas (600 hectares), Mendoni added.
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All the financial resources for restorations at Tatoi’s buildings are provided by the EU’s National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) and the EU’s Recovery Fund. Studies will be completed by the end of 2021-beginning of 2022, noted Mendoni, when the contractor is to be selected.
Of the archeological ruins of the ancient fortress of Dekelia (Paleokastro), located inside the estate, she said it was untouched by the flames.
READ MORE: Fire appeals: Greece is burning, and the diaspora rallies to help
Speaking of other areas in Greece that were threatened by the wildfires, Mendoni said the local archaeological ephorates had informed her that there was no damage to antiquities on Evia island. In the Peloponnese, including Ancient Olympia, there were only some limited problems in some post-Byzantine churches.
“It is obvious we faced an unprecedented situation, not just in terms of monuments and our cultural heritage,” she said.
Ancient Olympia
In the western Peloponnese, small pockets of wildfires continue to burn in areas of the Ancient Olympia township, in Ilia. Greece’s Deputy Regional Director of Ilia, Vassilis Yannopoulos, told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) on Wednesday. Firefighters are focused on a region among the communities of Lasdika, Milies and Kryoneri.
“Although the danger ofthe fire fronts rekindling has not yet been alleviated, we are speeding up our efforts to register damages immediately,” Mr Yiannopoulos said.
He expressed concern about the destruction of basins for overflow waters, especially ahead of the rain season. Forestry services should “move immediately to set up antiflooding works, to prevent soil erosion and to see that streams and antiflood banks at rivers, especially Alfios River, are not burdened more.”
Firefighting efforts are reinforced by overseas help, including 30 firefighters from Austria expected to arrive on Thursday, Mr Yiannopoulos said.
Evia
Fires rekindled along the coast of northern Evia, from Agia Anna to Agriovotano on Wednesday, where there is a shortage of water to fight the fires after power outages.
Kamatriades has been the focus of firefighters from Greece and abroad since yesterday, as the flames in a ravine threaten to spread to an oak forest called “Telethrio”. From there, the fire could spread to the coastal resort of Edipsos and Orei, further north.
Firefighters faced water pumping problems because several villages have lost electricity. A tanker arrived at the Psaropouli coast carrying water to fill water trucks so they could in turn fill fire trucks.
Εκατοντάδες αμάξια στην ουρά για το πλοίο της εξόδου από την #Ευβοια , στο λιμανι της #Αιδηψός
Πριν από λίγη ώρα απαγορεύτηκε η μετακίνηση επιβατών από Στερεά Ελλάδα προς Ευβοια.#πυρκαγια #πυρκαγιες #ευβοια #ευβοια_φωτια #greece #wildfire #greeceisburning #GreeceFires pic.twitter.com/gPbJz9pwOc— 𝙺𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚜 𝙺𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚜 (@KallergisK) August 8, 2021
Hundreds of members of the Hellenic Army and Air Force arrived in the area around noon and are helping put out smaller pockets of fire.
Neos Kosmos has sent a letter to the office of Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison asking what help is being sent by Australia, but has yet to receive a response. Meanwhile, Greek Australian groups, including the Greek Community of Melbourne and Greek Orthodox Archdiocese have launched fire fighting appeals to help Greece.
