Earth Protect Blog

An aircraft drops water during a wildfire Thursday in the Kryoneri area of Athens, Greece. Fires also plagued Turkey’s southern coast for a ninth day Thursday, forcing thousands of people to evacuate by land and sea overnight. Hundreds of square miles of forest burned as more than 180 fires blazed across Turkey. At least eight people died, hundreds were injured, and dozens lost their homes. At ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games in southern Greece, authorities and army personnel dug fire lines around the archaeological site to keep the flames at bay as firefighters battled the blazes through the night. The Greek government on Thursday increased the involvement of the military in tackling the fires.

Michael Varaklas, The Associated Press