The virgin forest near the village of Vati in Rhodes is ablaze and is a tragic image, one that was captured on drone footage.
A few hours after the extinguishing efforts, the scenery is nothing like the green landscape with the pine forest and the endless olive groves with some of them, according to tradition, dating back to Cleobulus of Lindos in the 6th century BC.
As the photographer Spyros Tsambikakis reported to Proto Thema, the burned area is huge, with the first estimates estimating it at 30 to 35% of the total surface of the island.
See the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM79sI8dLLQ
"The area that has been burned is huge, with the drone we managed to show 1/5 of the area that has been burned. What they say that 10% of the total surface of the island has burned is a big lie for me, at least 30 to 35% is," he said.
"Most of the forest area has burned. We are talking about a virgin forest, it only had some firefighting roads, added Tsambikakis.
According to the journalist, early in the morning there was a rekindling of the fire in Vati, but they managed to put it out quickly before it spread.
"An important role in the efforts to extinguish the fire all these days is played by the bravery of the volunteers. Children in their 20s have been fighting the flames and giving everything to save what they can for five or six days," he explained.
"If we waited from the municipality and the region, I'm afraid things would be even worse," Tsambikakis said.
READ MORE: Michael Gove: "I'm going on holiday to Evia, I'm not worried about the fires," says British housing minister.
