The ongoing wildfires in Greece have triggered a massive explosion at an ammunition depot. Fortunately, no injuries or casualties were recorded in the area.
According to a report by the Associated Press, the fire broke out in the Volos area in central Greece's Magnissia region, around 6 kilometers (4 miles) north of the large military air base in Nea Anchialos.
The local media reported that the location houses the 111th Combat Wing base facilities.
The enormous blasts smashed windows on nearby buildings, but the Greek fire service reported no serious injuries in nearby communities, which were also evacuated as a precaution
"They've split open, they peeled off, the panels have fallen, they are split open, only metal is left, the ironwork," Dina Angeli, a local resident in Nea Aghialos, told Reuters.
According to Fire Service spokesman Ioannis Artopios, 12 communities in the Volos-Nea Anchialos area have been ordered evacuated.
"Despite their superhuman efforts, our forces were unable to stop the blaze," he added.
Artopios said the Volos fire was the most threatening of the 124 wildfires that the fire service had to deal with as of Thursday.
Ordered investigation
Authorities have set up an exclusion zone around an air force base. A 3-kilometer (2-mile) radius around the explosion site was subject to a civilian traffic ban and evacuation order.
The fire has been suppressed, and the ammo depot has been sprayed with coolant by the air force and fire crews. However, officials say the situation remains severe since projectiles and ammo may have been distributed over great distances and are still active.
The F-16 fleet was transferred to Larissa headquarters of another combat squadron.
On Friday, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias announced he had directed a probe into the event.
Artopoios said the air force personnel were trained for this kind of emergency.
"That is the reason they were able to evacuate the base so fast and fly the planes to nearby airports," he added, as quoted by BBC.
Read Also: Greece Suffers From Challenging Heat, Wildfires; EU Provides Support, Firefighters
More step to combat climate change
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece needs to do more to counteract the consequences of climate change as two more people were killed in the ongoing fire, taking the death toll to five.
He also stressed the need to reform the firefighting and fire prevention policies of the country.
"The climate crisis may be a reality, but it cannot be an excuse," he said during a meeting with President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
The Greek City Times reported that a 45-year-old shepherd was discovered dead in a remote area of Magnesia on Wednesday. Authorities had also found a body of a woman earlier that day, according to state television station ERT.
The fires were to blame for both deaths.
Greece has been in grief for the deaths of two pilots who died when their Canadair water-bomber plane crashed while tackling a fire on Evia on Tuesday.
"Our country ought to take more steps ... to be ready to mitigate, as much as possible, the effects of a reality that we are already starting to feel, and that could have dramatic effects on many different aspects of our economic and social life," Mitsotakis added.
Related Article: Two Heroic Air Force Pilots Dead While Battling Wildfires in Greece
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