Athens has requested and was granted firefighting assistance from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which will send four planes to help put out several large fires raging across Greece for the second day, Greek Fire Service spokesman Vasilios Vathrakogiannis said on Tuesday
ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2023) Athens has requested and was granted firefighting assistance from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which will send four planes to help put out several large fires raging across Greece for the second day, Greek Fire Service spokesman Vasilios Vathrakogiannis said on Tuesday.
"The EU Civil Protection Mechanism has accepted our request for assistance, and four airplanes � two from Italy and two from France � will be available to extinguish fires from the air," Vathrakogiannis said.
While one of the fires, in Saronida, appeared to be on the decline, another one freshly emerged in Loutraki, the spokesman said.
"All civil defense forces of the territory are in a state of combat readiness and assist in extinguishing fires," Vathrakogiannis said.
The largest wildfire is the one in Dervenochoria, northwest of Athens, with the biggest number of ground and air assets involved in putting it out, Vathrakogiannis said. The fire is being extinguished by 250 firefighters with eight foot patrols and 75 vehicles. They are being coordinated by the Olympos operational center. From the air, the fire is being extinguished by 11 airplanes and nine helicopters, one of which is acting as a coordinator.
Due to the ongoing fires, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis decided to return from the EU - Community of Latin America and Caribbean summit earlier than planned, a government source told journalists.
