Wildfire in Serifos island brought under control but caused serious damage, mayor says

A large wildfire that broke out on Serifos island on Saturday afternoon has been brought under control by firefighters, the island’s mayor said on Sunday.

“The fire is under control, it has been brought under control at all points. Now we are just monitoring. All of southwestern Serifos has burned. We are talking about an area where the fire stopped at the sea,” said mayor Konstantinos Revintis, on a MEGA TV channel interview

Until reinforcements from Athens arrived on Saturday night, only one fire truck with four firefighters, water tanks from the Municipality, two airplanes, and a helicopter operated on the island.

Just before 11 p.m., a team of 22 firefighters and 11 vehicles departed from Piraeus by ship.Due to the strong winds and the rapid spread of the fire, three 112 messages were issued for the evacuation of residents from multiple towns and villages.

On Saturday, the mayor spoke of a ‘biblical disaster’ during an interview with SKAI TV. “It is a biblical disaster. The front is 15 kilometers in total. We are talking about massive destruction. Burned houses, burned cottages, burned warehouses,” he said.

Source: ekathimerini.com