Greece fires: Welsh firefighters help battle wildfires

Welsh firefighters are working 12-hour shifts in 40C heat as they help to fight wildfires in Greece.

Four firefighters from Wales have flown out as part of a 21-strong team from the UK to help in the crisis.

Tactical fire expert Craig Hope said the fire was "very similar" to one in Cwmcarn forest, Newport, in 2018.

Hundreds of people have been forced to leave the island of Evia, as fires destroyed houses and brought down power lines.

As well as the UK team, France and Germany have also responded to Greece's call for help

The fires have been so catastrophic, the EU said it was mobilising one of its biggest responses to tackle the wildfires affecting Greece and a number of other European nations.

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'Still very hot and very windy'

Mr Hope is working in a village in the western side of Athens, protecting properties.

While he has been tasked with making a plan by analysing the direction of the fires and weather, his main role is "keeping everyone safe".

He said: "A wildfire came into the area yesterday and now we have come in to mop it up and ensure there are no reignitions."

While the wildfires in Greece have been described as scenes from an "apocalyptic movie", Mr Hope said "we see plenty in the south Wales valleys" but "it's about making a plan".

Giannis Kontzias, mayor of the municipality of Istiaia in the northern part of Evia, said the area "has been destroyed"

He added: "It's [the risks] are still very high - there's an awful lot of vegetation, there's a lot of properties in the forestry and we're making sure there's no loss of life.

"It's still very hot and windy, especially in late afternoon.

"We were mopping up a forestry fire and another fire reignited near us and that made a run through the night in the village.

"We're working 12 hours on, 12 hours off. It's smoky, we are looking after ourselves and keeping our fluids up and getting on with the task."

The country's hot and dry weather is likely to fuel wildfires

The team were deployed after the National Fire Chiefs Council's (NFCC) responded to a formal request from the Home Secretary to help out.

The team is made up of personnel from Merseyside, Lancashire, south Wales, London and the West Midlands.

The NFCC said the team worked alongside colleagues in Gortynia and has now been deployed to another area.

Mr Hope said there were techniques that differed between UK firefighters and their Greek counterparts.

"One thing we do in south Wales is use tactical fire where we are trained to use fire to fight fire and that is not a technique they're comfortable with in Greece," he said.

"Hopefully in the future moving forward, we can work with them as that tool would be very effective here, especially moving into the night."

The normal international deployment time is 10 days, according to Mr Hope, but with more strong winds and fires likely, they are "not really sure" when they will return home.