Wildfires kill a father and son in Greece and prompt evacuations in 2 villages
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Authorities urged residents of two villages in central Greece to evacuate Wednesday as more than 135 firefighters and 25 aircraft battled a wildfire, a day after a forest fire in northern Greece killed a father and his 12-year-old son.
Firefighters on Wednesday identified a body found inside a home destroyed by the fire the previous day as that of the boy. His father’s body was found Tuesday outside the property, which was in a woodland area northeast of the northern city of Thessaloniki. The boy’s mother is being treated for burns in a hospital.
Wednesday’s fire was burning through forest and agricultural land in the central Greek region of Fthiotida, the fire department said. Nineteen water-dropping planes, six helicopters and 135 firefighters backed up by volunteers and special forest fire units were tackling the blaze.
At least three other wildfires broke out in Greece on Wednesday — one in the northern region of Halkidiki, another on the island of Salamina, near the Greek capital, and a third in southern Greece. All three were quickly contained, the fire department said.
While Greece suffers frequent wildfires during its hot, dry summers, it has so far been spared the heatwaves that have scorched much of western Europe in recent weeks.
In 2018, a blaze east of Athens killed more than 100 people, while a massive fire in 2023 which tore through a remote nature reserve in northeastern Greece was the largest wildfire ever recorded in the European Union.
The country has increasingly turned to technology to combat the threat of fires, exacerbated by climate change. It is integrating a dedicated array of four satellites, launched into low orbit in May, that will monitor for wildfires.
