Skopelos Fires
The Greek Civil Protection agency declared a state of emergency on the island of Skopelos in the northern Aegean on Tuesday after a major and uncontrolled wildfire that broke out on Monday ran into its second day.
The fire originally broke out in the region of Agnonta, far from inhabited areas on the island, but took on major dimensions due to strong winds blowing overnight, incinerating landscape of great natural beauty.
Local fire-fighters were reinforced by a 12-man forest fire-fighting unit from the town of Volos on the mainland, who were transferred to the island in a Super-Puma all-weather helicopter during the night, while water bombing aircraft and helicopters joined fire-fighting efforts at first light but were hampered by the strong winds blowing in the area.
Later on Tuesday morning there was a force of 70 firemen from all Thessaly on the ground, while the Air Force General Staff announced that two Canadair CL415 water-bombing aircraft were fighting the flames from the air. These were later augmented by another two aircraft of the same type that had been sent to take part in the parade for the March 25 anniversary and two CL215 aircraft.