Since this morning two Canadair aircraft of the Vigili del Fuoco have been at work in Greece. They had been sent yesterday by the Civil Defence Department as part of the European Civil Protection Mechanism. The goal is to support the Greek firefighting machine, dealing with a serious emergency that is affecting some wooded areas of the Greek country. 

The Italian planes took off from the Elefsis airport and are operating on the various fire fronts: in particular in the Dervenochori area, north-west of Athens, and on the island of Rhodes, where the blaze is out of control. In fact, in the tourist resort the authorities have ordered the preventive evacuation of four villages (Appolon, Eloysa, Salakou, Dimylia) and a hotel ("Elafos" on Mount Profitis Ilias).