Forest fires that have devastated southern Greece and claimed 63 lives in eight days died down on Friday, but emergency services feared a new heatwave could rekindle some blazes.
”Things are going well,” a fire-service spokesperson said, adding that the fires were no longer threatening populated areas after endangering villages on Thursday in the ravaged peninsula of Peloponnese.
Firefighters assisted by three water-bombing planes were operating around Mount Parnon in the Peloponnese where fires were still burning, the spokesperson said.
Further north on the peninsula, four planes were flying over burning forests to dump water on fires.
The other area of concern was on the island of Evia to the north of Athens, although soldiers and firefighters had the blaze there under control.
Despite the improvement, temperatures were set to top 40 degrees Celsius at the weekend.
The wildfires broke out on August 24 following the third heatwave the country had experienced this summer.
The task for the increasingly weary fire crews was made easier by a drop in winds that had reached 70km/h last weekend. Authorities warned they were locked in a race against time to snuff out the fires before the winds picked up strength.
”When there is a heatwave it is always a concern, but it is above all else the threat from the wind that worries us,” the fire-service spokesperson said. ”Today the wind is not strong, so the idea is to win the battle today before the wind picks up.”
Meanwhile, funerals of the victims began to take place across the Peloponnese, where more than 40 people died. The village of Artemida prepared for the burials of a mother and four children who have become the symbols of this disaster.
The charred body of Athanassia Paraskevopoulou (40), who was holidaying in the Peloponnese, was found clutching three of her four dead children. She and her family had tried to escape the inferno by car, but when an accident blocked the road they tried in vain to run for their lives.
Although the fires raged up to 200 000ha, the government said the effect on the economy would be relatively low because the areas affected were mainly rural with small farms or olive groves.
”The damage to the economy is limited and its impact on economic growth is not expected to exceed 0,3% of gross domestic product,” Economy Minister George Alogoskoufis said.
After flying over the Peloponnese to see the damage, European commissioner for regional policy Danuta Huebner said the European Union could pay up to €600-million in aid this year to help Greece recover from the disaster.
”The commission is prepared to go very fast with all the technical, legal and financial assistance that we can deliver so we can reduce the damage and the consequences as fast as possible,” Huebner told journalists in Athens.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso was due in Greece later on Friday to express solidarity with the victims, the Greek national agency ANA reported. — Sapa-AFP