Greece fires map 2021: Where are the wildfires?

Pillars of billowing smoke and ash have turned the sky orange and blocked out the sun above Greece's second-largest island, Evia, north of Athens.

A BBC reporter at the scene said the orange haze makes your "eyes sting" and its hard to breathe.

She added: "One Serbian tourist who was waiting on the beach for a ferry to take them away looked up and said 'this is like an apocalyptic movie'."

Evacuation orders were issued on Sunday, August 8, 2021, for four villages in northern Evia, including Pefki, but many residents refused to leave, hoping to save their properties.

Panicked residents have been racing with water tanks, hoses and branches in a seemingly futile effort to extinguish the flames.

Distraught resident David Angelou said: "We were completely forsaken. There were no fire brigades, there were no vehicles, nothing."

Acrid, choking smoke hung in the orange-grey air, turning the day into an apocalyptic twilight as people headed towards Pefki's pebble beach, dragging suitcases, clutching pets and helping elderly relatives.

In an update on the wildfires, the deputy civil protection minister, Nikos Hardalias, said on Sunday, August 8, 2021, that a fire has broken out in Zakynthos.

He added that a small firefighting aircraft type PZL from Kefalonia had crashed, "but fortunately our pilot and father of two children was saved, is in good health and transported to 251 Military Hospital".

In Attica, although "the fires are in remission, the area will be monitored", he said.

Hardalias added: "In Evia, the struggle continues unabated, with the same intensity.

"New fires that were fought from the air in Crete and Zakynthos today were quickly controlled and are in recession.

"The fire that started from Ilia and has reached Arcadia is in decline but here there are still small fronts."

Seaside resort Loggos, popular with tourists, and the village of Psinthos, have already been evacuated.

Scores of fires have been reported - but one blaze in the northern suburb of Athens is said to have subsided, reports BBC News.

Fires in the Peloponnese region are also said to be stable.

What's happening in Greece?

  • July 31 - A wildfire erupts near the city of Patras
  • August 1 - The island of Rhodes begins burning
  • August 2 - Greece records its highest ever temperature - 46.3C in Phthiotis
  • August 3 - Flames spread to other Athens suburbs such as Varympompi and Tatoi, with at least 40 active fires, as temperatures of 47.1C break the previous day's record
  • August 4 - Officials report 92 forest fires, on top of the 118 from the day before
  • August 5 - Firefighters struggle to contain fires near Olympia and on the island of Evia as plumes are seen from space
  • August 7 - Thousands of locals evacuated from towns north of Athens because of huge clouds of ash and smoke
  • August 8-9 - Thousands of people have fled their homes in "apocalyptic scenes" on the island of Evia

Extreme weather conditions have hit the Eastern Mediterranean sparking a series of fast-spreading wildfires.

Temperatures of more than 40C and high winds have fanned the flames in Greece, with some places seeing the mercury soar as high as 47C.

Local fire crews and volunteers are being supported by 100 firefighters from Ukraine, 112 from Romania who have brought 23 fire trucks, along with 34 firefighters and 14 vehicles from Serbia.

The UK has sent at least 20 firefighters.

Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes and hundreds of frantic firefighters have been working to control the blazes.

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