Firefighters from Poland lend a hand to their Greek counterparts as wildfires quickly engulf vast areas in Greece.
Ready for a sizzling weekend in Greece? It's shaping up to be the hottest in half a century, posing enormous challenges for firefighters battling the intensifying infernos. Polish crews arrived on Friday, with Brigadier Grzegorz Borowiec likening the Greek heat to something unimaginable in Poland. These brave firefighters are deployed near Mandra and Stefania.
Greece has been grappling with wildfires for over a week, with a whopping 50 more igniting just on Friday. Polish firefighters landed at the Vilia base around 10:30 PM Polish time, per a tweet from General Brigadier Andrzej Bartkowiak, Chief Commander of the State Fire Service.
Meanwhile, let's take a look at the situation: Polish firefighters, equipped with 149 personnel and 49 vehicles from Lesser Poland and Greater Poland regions, touched down in Greece on Wednesday. Grzegorz Borowiec has been assigned as the commander of the GFFFV POLAND module. On Saturday morning at 8:00 local time (7:00 in Poland), mercury already hit 30 degrees Celsius, dropping only marginally to 25-26 degrees at night. The relentless heat shows no sign of subsiding.
By Saturday, the Polish team will gather for a meeting with their commander, who will delegate tasks. "We'll give it our all," Borowiec reported, acknowledging the brutal conditions far removed from Poland's usual climate. With multiple fires predicted to spring up in the area in the coming days, they are bracing themselves for the fierce heat.
Rhodes: Ground Zero
Temperatures forecasted for the weekend could soar up to 45°C, but thankfully, gusty winds should stay at bay, according to Brigadier Grzegorz Borowiec. However, he warned that from Monday onwards, gale-force winds will pick up, making the weather increasingly hostile. Upon their arrival, intense heat posed challenges, with Rhodes experiencing a particularly perilous situation.
On Sunday, several islanders were evacuated by Greek authorities, and Borowiec revealed that a portion of Rhodes had been evacuated as well. Beginning from 11:00, Polish units were stationed near Mandra and Stefania, ready to tackle their duties in an ex deployed near the towns of Mandra and Stefania following the morning briefing. Firefighters set off to carry out their duties.
With temperatures likely to climb to 45 degrees Celsius this weekend, authorities have urged people to remain indoors due to the extreme conditions. Famous tourist sites, including the Acropolis in Athens, will be closed for the following days. Besides Polish firefighters, teams from Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria are also lending a helping hand in Greece. Firefighting aircraft from France, Italy, and Turkey have been dispatched to battle the flames.
As meteorologist Panagiotis Giannopoulos predicts, these record-breaking temperatures in July are expected to persist until the end of the month. With such punishing conditions, it's no surprise that numerous countries are rallying to support Greece in fighting these ferocious fires.
- The Greek government has appealed to several other countries for aid due to the relentless wildfires that continue to rage across the country.
- As temperatures soar, artificial intelligence systems are being employed to predict the spread of fires and aid firefighters in their efforts.
- With the escalating war-like situation between the fires and the firefighters, the race to harness the power of space technology, particularly satellite imagery, becomes increasingly relevant for more efficient firefighting strategies.
