The largest wildfire ever recorded in the European Union has continued its relentless path of destruction for the 13th consecutive day in northeastern Greece, relentlessly engulfing the pristine forest within the Dadia National Park.
The vast extent of the disaster becomes apparent when considering that approximately 81,000 hectares (200,000 acres) of land have succumbed to the flames, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Emergency Management Service.
As the wildfire maintained its voracious advance on Wednesday evening, imperiling the areas of Giannouli and Sidiro, local inhabitants were issued evacuation orders. The residents of these areas were instructed to seek refuge in the nearby town of Soufli and Mega Derio, respectively. In a concerted effort to enhance public safety, authorities initiated an emergency alert for the inhabitants of Soufli and Dadia, urging them to remain vigilant.
A force of 475 firefighters has been laboring relentlessly on the ground, aided by 11 planes and five helicopters deployed to battle the flames from above. The blaze first ignited near the port city of Alexandroupolis on August 19, gradually merging with other fire fronts in the vicinity to form a calamitous inferno that has laid waste to homes and extensive stretches of forested land along the Turkish border. Tragically, this conflagration has also been responsible for 20 out of Greece’s 21 fire-related fatalities in the preceding week.
Amid this devastation, the Copernicus program—an integral part of the EU’s space initiatives for Earth observation—has revealed the unparalleled scale of the catastrophe. The wildfire stands as the most colossal singular wildfire documented within any member nation since the inception of the European Forest Fire Information System in 2000.
