Greece wildfires become biggest in EU history as firefighters tackle blaze for 11th day

Greecewildfires have become the biggest in the EU since record keeping began 23 years ago. On Tuesday (August 29) burning continued in north east Greece for the 11th day, despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters

In an effort to stop the blaze, there has also been a fleet of water-dropping aircrafts from Greece and several other European countries. The wildfire has led to the loss of large tracts of forest, scorched homes and triggered the evacuation of thousands of people.

It’s also been blamed for the loss of 20 lives in Greece last week. According to the European Commission, it is the "largest single blaze recorded" in the EU since the European Forest Fire Information System began recording data in 2000,

The fire department said six planes and four helicopters were assisting 475 firefighters on the ground, supported by 100 vehicles. Another 260 firefighters and one helicopter were battling another major fire that had been burning in a forest on the southern slopes of Mount Parnitha, on the outskirts of Athens.

The fire in the Alexandroupolis and Evros region, which first started on August 19, has resulted in more than 81,000 hectares (200,000 acres) of land being lost. Germany, Sweden, Croatia, Cyprus and the Czech Republic have sent firefighting aircraft under the EU’s emergency response mechanism, with France and Spain set to follow