The description given by the president of the Porto Germeno Residents’ Association on the Anemologio program with Konstantinos Lavithis on Parapolitika 90.1 was nothing short of shocking and deeply alarming. Giannis Gkiokas stated that only a miracle would prevent half of Porto Germeno from burning, stressing that the wildfire was descending from the mountain toward the settlement and had been impossible to contain as of 9:30 p.m. on Friday, July 31. He noted that volunteers were present and coordination efforts were underway, yet any ground operation at the point of active burning was simply not feasible. He emphasized that firefighters would need to wait until the fire came within half a kilometer of the homes before they could mount any effective response. He also noted that Porto Germeno had been evacuated following an alert via the 112 emergency number, but members of the Residents’ Association had already taken it upon themselves to clear beachgoers from the shoreline — “because we feared another Mati and we knew what we were dealing with.” “They were cursing at us, and then they called us afterward to apologize,” he added.
Read more: Porto Germeno: Reporter swept off balance by powerful wind gusts during live broadcast
“We will only leave when our lives are in danger”
Giannis Gkiokas elaborated further: “The situation is extremely difficult — unlike anything we’ve seen before. Even back in 2009, when we had a similar fire, we managed to get ahead of it. This fire is burning out of control; the right flank is completely engulfed in flames. The fire is now between 1.5 and 2 kilometers from homes. We cannot conduct any ground operations — we’re just watching it, waiting for it to come down and burn us. According to eyewitness accounts, many animals are fleeing the flames, and when they catch fire, they create new ignition points. The images are terrifying. No one can intervene. The fire is consuming everything in its path, moving down from the mountain summit, coming from Agios Vasileios, from Boeotia, heading downhill. The winds shifted and turned northwesterly, which is the worst possible scenario. The fire has crested the mountain and is now descending toward the Porto Germeno settlement. There were no aerial resources available due to the gale-force winds. Only a miracle will stop at least half of Germeno from burning. Once it gets within 500 meters, we’ll be able to confront it directly.” He also stressed: “We are emotionally bound to this place. We will only leave when our lives are truly at risk.”
