A major wildfire has again flared up north of Athens proper, at the Varibobi site, according to Greece’s fire brigade.
According to the latest updates, flames have rekindled in at three locations, with the most worrying being near the former Olympic Village, which today is a residential complex.
Meanwhile, firefighters, military personnel and volunteers were attempting to contain another two major wildfires in the country, just two of more than 120 that erupted over the past two days, according to civil defense officials.
The two destructive blazes were burning thousands of hectares of forests, brush land and crops in a northwest corner of large Evia island, and specifically at the Rovies and Limni sites, and at various locations surrounding iconic ancient Olympia in the northeast Peloponnese – which lies in southern Greece.
The same area was devastated by another wildfire in the summer of 2007.
Greece has been plagued by the worst heat wave in decades over the past week, creating extremely conducive conditions for wildfires and dangers of power outages.
On a positive note, the historic 15th century Monastery of St. David the Elder, which is located off the northwest coast of Evia island, was spared from destruction, after initially being surrounded by flames.
In extreme southeast Greece, the Metropolitan of Messinia, His Eminence Chrysostomos, on Thursday morning toured several fire-ravaged areas in the prefecture, while extending his prayers to the Theotokos, the Virgin Mary, for an end to the wildfires.
Halfway around the world, the Archbishop of America, His Eminence Elpidophoros, in a post on social media, called on the faithful to pray for relief from the devastating wildfires in Greece, Turkey, Italy, and the United States, adding “…let us recommit ourselves to confront the climate crisis with renewed urgency.”
The Metropolitan of Patras, His Eminence Chrysostomos, although still hospitalized in good condition, instructed priests and deacons in all cathedrals and monasteries within the Metropolis to offer special obsecrations and intercessions for an end to the menace of wildfires.