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Corfu wildfires: Sirens blare and any tourist would be concerned, but the anxiety for locals is worse

Whole hillside glowed red as Ronan McGreevy watched wildfires spread during his Greek holiday

Holidaymakers and residents on the Greek island of Corfu faced a night of anxiety as wildfires whipped across the island.
Ronan McGreevy's picture
Ronan McGreevy in Corfu
Mon Jul 24 2023 - 11:14

The first sign of trouble was smoke covering the hills as we returned from the beach on Sunday night. Two firefighting planes swooped overhead assessing the extent of the fire.

Within a few minutes, all our phones were pinging with alerts in Greek and English. “Attention 112. If you are in Santa, Megoula, Porta, Palia Perithia and Sinies, evacuate now to Kassiopi, wildfire in your area. Follow the instructions of the authorities.”

We are staying just south of Kassiopi which is in the extreme north-west of Corfu. The places being evacuated are located on the east side of the island.

The smoke on the mountain turned to fire. It looked like there was not one fire, but at least three.

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Corfu is a very green island which distinguishes it from many other Greek islands. The tree-lined hills are filled with olive and citrus groves. There is plenty of rain during the winter, but all that dead vegetation during the summer must be the authorities’ worst nightmare here.

Fire trucks from Kassopi passed our house all night, their sirens blaring with a lot of traffic coming the other way. It is a surreal experience to be sitting by a swimming pool watching emergency workers hurrying to a scene of a fire, dashing to save lives and livelihoods.

The fires appeared on a ridge above us as pinpricks of red light. Below that ridge are many homes. While every tourist confronted with such sights will be concerned about their holidays and mindful of the situation in Rhodes, it is not comparable to the anxiety these residents must have felt last night.

The view of the smoke on the hill during daytime. Photograph: Ronan McGreevy
The view of the smoke on the hill during daytime. Photograph: Ronan McGreevy

The whole hillside glowed red and the Greek authorities set out a second alert – this one to communities south of us to evacuate to Ipsos beach which is on the west coast of Corfu. Would we be next? It was an unsettling thought going to bed last night.

When I woke this morning, a helicopter passed overhead dumping water on the fire which had had now turned to white smoke and, fingers and toes crossed, seems to be under control though there are still isolated fires breaking out.

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The Greek fire fighters are hugely admirable. There was a red heat alert on Sunday, the highest level. The heat here is ferocious.

While we can take refuge beside the pool and sheltered beaches, the firefighters have to cope with that heat and the heat from the fires. It must be exhausting work.

It should be noted for visitors coming to Corfu that this is rather a large island and the fires are confined to one corner. Fortunately, it is a long way from the locus of the fires to the airport from here so, as it stands, it shouldn’t affect flights coming in and out of the island.