Raging forest fire on Lesvos enters Vatera, burns homes and businesses
The forest fire raging on the island of Lesvos reached and entered the seaside resort of Vatera on Saturday afternoon, burning down homes and businesses. Fire-fighters, volunteers, local residents and business owners were battling to stop the flames, which in some places reached right down to the sea. Strong gusts of wind blowing intermittently were helping the fire to spread.
Vatera is an important tourist destination on the island of Lesvos, with a large number of holiday homes and many that have been made into permanent residences by inhabitants of the nearby earthquake-stricken village of Vrisa, following the damage caused by an earthquake in 2017.
Other fronts of the fire on the mountain were being fought by fire-fighters on the ground and fire-fighting aircraft.
