Fires Burn Across Sizzling Greece, Two Dead
Date: 29-Jun-07
Country: GREECE
Author: Karolos Grohmann
The fire trapped the victims' car near the town of Agia in central Greece in the early hours. They got out and tried in vain to escape, officials said.
Dozens of firefighters and planes battled to contain the blaze as well as several smaller fires being fanned by strong winds in the nearby Pelion peninsula.
About 100 firefighters, five planes and a helicopter fought another forest fire in central Greece as temperatures across the country held above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) for a sixth consecutive day. They have reached 46C.
Before Thursday's deaths, Greece's worst heatwave in 110 years had killed at least 10 people, nine dying from heatstroke.
The country also faced hours-long power outages in many areas, including parts of the capital, due to increased energy consumption and damages to the grid. An electricity station in northern Greece exploded, causing a small fire and cutting power to many parts of the region.
Four people have also died of suspected heatstroke in Cyprus since temperatures soared above 40C on June 22.
However, Cypriot authorities said the death of an 8-month-old infant on Wednesday evening did not appear to be connected to the weather after investigating his death.
Authorities on the island said demand for electricity powering air conditioning units reached a record high on Thursday.
Israel sent three firefighting aircraft to Cyprus on Thursday to fight a fire raging in the southern Limassol district. Weather officials said temperatures would abate by Saturday, but another heatwave was on the way next week.
Exploding World War Two mines deep in the lush pine forest near Dervenochoria, some 100 km north of Athens, was further hampering firefighters' work there.
"This is a very serious fire in Dervenochoria which is in full development at the moment," a fire brigade official said.
"Operations in the forest are extremely dangerous because of mines left over from the war and because of strong winds which fan the fire."
About 100 firefighters, 18 fire trucks, five aircraft and a helicopter were coordinating efforts to rein in the blaze, which the official said had damaged holiday homes.
Authorities suspect the fire started after explosions around electricity pylons that may have overheated due to the weather.
(Additional reporting by Michele Kambas in Nicosia)