MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2019) Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis ordered the Greek authorities to compile an assessment report on the damage caused by an ongoing wildfire on the country's second largest island, Euboea, in order for the damaged property-owners to receive compensation, local media reported on Wednesday.
Mitsotakis visited a mobile coordination center on the blaze-affected island and asked the responsible authorities to assess the extent of the fire and damage it has caused to local farmland so that farmers could receive compensation from the Greek Agricultural Insurance Organization, the Greek Reporter news network said.
"Our first priority is to protect human lives, and then to protect people's fortunes," Mitsotakis was quoted as saying by Greek Reporter.
According to the media outlet, Mitsotakis also pledged full support of the government in mitigating the fire's disastrous consequences.
The wildfire on Euboea began on Tuesday and still continues to spread, with smoke reaching Athens 43 miles away southward. Three villages were evacuated. Fire also engulfed the pine forest included in the Natura 200 reserve, the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world.
More than 200 firefighters, 75 vehicles, six aircraft and five helicopters have been sent to the site. Earlier on Wednesday, the European Commission said it had provided Greece with three firefighting planes from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism reserves (rescEU) to fight wildfires ongoing on Euboea and other regions.
The Greek authorities had to declare a state of emergency in fire-affected areas with the blaze fanned by a strong wind and temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
