Chios, the hardest-hit region in Greece’s current wildfires, is enduring its second major blaze this summer, after a June outbreak scorched more than 4,000 hectares. The latest fire, which erupted Wednesday, affecting the island’s northwest, has burned a similar amount of territory. 

“Volissos, the main village of Amani, has been completely burned. We evacuated all 19 villages in the area yesterday [Tuesday] and rescued residents and visitors in danger. Houses, caravans, and cars have burned. The situation is dramatic,” Amani deputy mayor Konstantinos Rymikis told Kathimerini.

He said the fire front stretches over 32 kilometers and has devastated much of Amani, a mountainous, sparsely populated region. Shops and olive mills have been destroyed, and he warned the fire could mark “the end” for the area.

The blaze is far from the island’s famed and unique mastic-producing villages in the south, but growers remain concerned. Giorgos Toumpos, president of the Chios Mastic Producers Union, said the island’s 1.4 million mastic trees are threatened by the altered microclimate caused by repeated fires. “Deforestation in the north will affect the microclimate and will certainly impact our crops,” he said.

Villages in northwestern Chios will face several days without electricity as the current wildfire burning on the island has caused extensive damage to the power network.

At least 150 electricity poles have been destroyed, according to the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator (DEDDIE).

Authorities estimate that wildfires over the past two days have burned about 10,000 hectares nationwide, with Chios accounting for 4,000, followed by Achaia (2,000), Filippiada near Preveza (1,800), and Zakynthos (1,700), according to the National Observatory of Athens.

Source: Ekathimerini.com