Greece wildfires dubbed 'largest ever' recorded in European Union's history

The Greece wildfire has been declared the "largest ever" recorded in the European Union's history as the country struggles to tame the raging flames.

“This wildfire is the largest in the EU since 2000, when the European Forest Fire Information System (Effis) began recording data,” the EU’s civil protection service said on Tuesday (Aug 29).

The forest fires, which began on August 19, have burned more than 310 sq miles (810 sq km) – an area bigger than New York City, it said.

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At least 20 people have lost their lives, 18 of them are migrants whose bodies were found in a region that is often used as an entry point from neighbouring Turkey.

Greece’s fire service told AFP news agency that the blaze was “still out of control” in the north-east region’s Dadia National Park, which is a vital sanctuary for birds of prey.

European Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari has said that the bloc has mobilised almost half of its firefighting air wing to help tackle the raging forest fires, which began on August 19.

EU mobilising water-dumping planes, firefighters

Eleven planes, one helicopter, and 407 firefighters from the EU fleet have been dispatched to help Greece counter the fire raging in the Dadia National Park, the EU spokesman said.

The EU has called on a fleet of 28 aircraft, 24 water-dumping planes and four helicopters, supplied by member countries to help battle blazes in the bloc and in neighbouring territories.

It is working on creating a standalone, EU-funded air wing of 12 aircraft that will be fully in place by 2030, the spokesperson said.

EU official commits full support

“We do know that fires are getting more severe. If you look at the figures every year in the past years, we are seeing trends which are not necessarily favourable, and that calls for of course more capacities at the member states’ level,” Ujvari said.

This year's summer has been the worst for the European country as it has encountered numerous fires, which the government and experts believe are linked to the climate crisis.

The EU air deployment "underscores our commitment to swift and effective collective action in times of crisis," the EU's commissioner for crisis management Janez Lenarcic said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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