Fire devours Greek island’s forests; residents urged to flee

Pillars of billowing smoke and ash turned the sky orange and blocked out the sun above Greece's second-largest island on Aug. 8 as a days-old wildfire devoured pristine forests and encroached on villages, triggering more evacuation alerts.

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The fire on Evia, an island of forested mountains and canyons laced with small coves of crystalline water, began Aug. 3 and cut across the popular summer destination from coast to coast as it burned out of control. Scores of homes and businesses have been destroyed and thousands of residents and tourists have fled, many escaping the flames via flotillas that even operated in the dark of night.

The blaze is the most severe of dozens that broke out in the wake of Greece's most protracted heat wave in three decades, which sent temperatures soaring to 45 degrees Celsius (113 F) for days, creating bone-dry conditions.

"It's already too late, the area has been destroyed," Giannis Kontzias, mayor of the northern Evia municipality of Istiaia, lamented on Greece's Open TV. He was one of several local officials and residents who took to Greek TV networks to appeal for more firefighting help, particularly from water-dropping planes and helicopters.

Evacuation orders were issued on Aug. 8 for four villages in northern Evia, including Pefki, but many residents refused to leave, hoping to save their properties.

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In dramatic scenes on Aug. 8 afternoon, fast-moving flames had encroached on the seaside village of Pefki, burning trees on the fringes and entering the houses' yards. Panicked residents raced with water tanks, hoses and branches in a seemingly futile effort to extinguish the flames.

Late on Aug. 8, firefighters managed to stop the fire before it advanced further into...

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