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The fire in Karistos on Euboea island has resumed during the night because of the strong winds in the area. A fire near Retimno on Crete has been burning since Wednesday. There are also some fires on Andros island. The Greek Civil Protection Services are warning that there is a very high risk of fires in central Greece today. Based on a prognosis card about risk of fires, published by the Civil Protection General Secretariat, the following regions are in the risk 4 category: Athens, East Attica, West Attica and Euboea.

The Civil Protection General Secretariat recommends to all public agencies and local authorities to be on high alert, in order to avoid tragic consequences.

Citizens are reminded to avoid outdoor activities, which might cause accidental fires. An example of this are burning dry branches, working with machinery, which make sparks (frame-saws, soldering machines, etc.) and throwing away lid cigarettes.

Meanwhile, the government started a large scale plan for compensating victims, who suffered damages during the wildfires two days ago. The National Bank of Greece will start giving out loans with lower interest rates for victims of the fires. All people, whose properties sustained damages, will be able to go to any branch of the bank on September 4, in order to declare their losses and join a loan program.

The prosecutor's office ordered an investigation about how the fire started. The firestorm destroyed 150 houses and 15 000 hectares of forests and farming land in the northeast part of Athens. Even though now is the fire season, because of the hot weather, low humidity and the strong wind, in many cases it is possible the reason for the fires is arson. This is why all facts will be investigated in detail by experts.

Dilyana Ivanova