Firefighting

The Air Force has confirmed that the two pilots missing since their firefighting aircraft crashed in southern Evia are dead.

In a statement, the General Air Staff Air Force named the two officers as Captain Christos Moulas (34) and his co-pilot, Second Lieutenant Periklis Stefanidis (27).

The fire burning on the island of Rhodes for a seventh day highlights the weaknesses of Greece's firefighting and forest management.

There have been positive steps, such as transferring the forest management agencies from the Agriculture to the Environment Ministry, but even that process is slow-moving, experts say.

The firefighting forces, along with volunteers, battled the flames throughout the night in several areas of Greece. The islands of Rhodes and Corfu, as well as Aigio in the northern Peloponnese, Karystos on Evia, and Yliki north of Athens, were affected. Airplanes began operations early on Monday to aid in firefighting efforts.

Experts called it the "wildfire paradox." The Fire Service may be getting more firefighting equipment, including assistance from abroad, it may nip more fires in the bud before they can spread, but as long as flammable material keeps accumulating in the forests, those fires that start are becoming more difficult to contain, with the largest of them burning for several days.

We always had and always will have wildfires in Greece. We will also have big fires that can't be extinguished for days and cause massive destruction - and not only us. Even countries with inexhaustible means and vast firefighting experience, such as the United States and Canada, have experienced wildfires that could not be put out out for days and caused unimaginable damage.

Cyprus and Croatia are to deploy firefighting aircraft to Greece through the EU-wide Civil Protection Mechanism, following an additional request from the General Secretariat of Civil Protection, to help battle wildfires that have intensified as the Kleon heat wave continues.

Cyprus has provided two Air Tractors and Croatia one CL-415 from the rescEU fleet of firefighting planes.

A 40-year-old firefighter has died in Thessaloniki while on duty and extinguishing a fire.

The firefighter was part of a contingent that had been called to extinguish a fire in dry grass.

According to a local news site, the firefighter suffered a fatal heart attack during the operation.

A wildfire that broke out near the town of Aliveri, on the island of Evia, north of Athens, was still active Friday morning.

A 75-year-old man has been arrested for smoking out beehives at the site where the fire started, Fire Service spokesman Yannis Artopoios told reporters.

A contingent of 20 firefighters, with ten tenders, are fighting a forest fire in the Almyros Gorge, west of the Cretan city of Iraklio.

Firefighting authorities on the island have appealed to Cretan residents and visitors not to start fires in the countryside "for any reason."

A team of 12 Greek firefighters spent 25 days in the American state of California being trained by the United States Forest Service (USFS), the Greek service said in an announcement on Tuesday.

The program is part of a partnership between the two firefighting services, both operating in countries that have experienced devastating wildfires.