Thirteen people have been arrested following a forest fire on the Greek island of Hydra, which authorities believe was started by fireworks launched from a yacht. The fire, which started on Friday, devastated the island’s sole pine forest. Although now under control, the fire presented significant challenges for firefighters who had to access the area by sea and use helicopters to drop water due to the lack of roads leading to the beach.

Hydra, southwest of Athens in the Saronic Gulf, is popular among foreign visitors and those travelling on yachts.

The latest blaze was ”caused by fireworks launched from a boat and burned the only pine forest on the island in a place that is difficult to access and has no road”, Hydra’s firefighting team said on Facebook.

In a statement on Saturday, Greek authorities confirmed the arrest of 13 Greek citizens who are scheduled to appear before prosecutors on Sunday. An official said the people were arrested at an Athens area marina.

The incident has caused widespread outrage in Greece, which is already grappling with multiple wildfires amidst its first heatwave of the year. The country has been on high alert for wildfires due to dry conditions, strong winds, and high temperatures, which are expected to persist throughout the summer. Officials say 64 forest and brush fires have broken out in Greece over the past 24 hours. 

Hydra’s mayor, Giorgos Koukoudakis, expressed anger over the reckless actions that led to the fire. 

“We are indignant that some people so irresponsibly throw fireworks into a pine forest,” Hydra’s mayor, Giorgos Koukoudakis, told Greek broadcaster ERT.

In a related incident, a 55-year-old volunteer firefighter succumbed to injuries sustained while combating a fire in the Ilia region of the Peloponnese peninsula.

Scientists have warned that fossil fuel emissions caused by humans are worsening the length and intensity of heat waves around the world.

Additionally, arson remains a significant problem, with 79 people arrested for arson last August. To combat this, Greece increased penalties for both deliberate and negligent arson last year, introducing fines of up to 200,000 Euro and jail sentences of up to 20 years​

Jammu:

Several mines exploded due to a forest fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district on Thursday and blaze also erupted in the forest areas of Samba and Jammu districts, causing significant damage, officials said.

In Samba, the fire started in the Purmandal area and soon spread to nearby villages threatening several residential houses, they said.

The villagers alerted the administration, prompting them to send fire tenders to the area and the blaze was doused after effort of several hours, the officials said.

The locals alleged that some criminals are triggering fire due to some vested interests and destroying forest land. They urged the administration to take stern action against those involved in the forest fire.

According to the officials, several mines exploded due to forest fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in the forward area of Mankote in Mendhar sub-sector in Poonch district.

The blaze started from across the LoC and spread to this side, they said.

In a similar incident in Jammu, a fire broke out in the Choki Chora area and spread to adjoining areas of Chora, Khardoon, Padoon, Bamla, Keri and Kandi, spread across several hectares of forest land, the officials said.

The forest department officials and local residents launched an operation to extinguish the flames, successfully bringing the fire under control after several hours, they said.

There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in both the incidents, they added.

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An Indian Air Force helicopter was pressed into service to extinguish the raging forest fires in villages of Srikot in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand on Monday.

An M-17 helicopter was deployed to assist in the firefighting operations.

State’s Chief Secretary, Radha Raturi, announced today a series of measures aimed at controlling the spread of the flames and mitigating further damage.

Ms Raturi said that the Air Force has been called in to aid firefighting efforts, and plans are underway to implement a pilot cloud seeding project to induce rainfall in the affected regions.

“The Chief Minister held a meeting the day before. For compliance with those directions, the Forest Department has been informed. The Forest Department has given responsibility for each district to its senior officials. Pauri Garhwal is facing the worst. For that, DM Pauri has also spoken with the Air Force. IAF choppers are now carrying water from Srinagar and sprinkling it on the affected area,” Ms Raturi said told news agency ANI.

To prevent further incidents, the state government has banned the burning of agricultural residues and waste in urban areas. This ban comes in response to widespread stubble burning after wheat harvesting, which has been linked to the increased risk of forest fires.

While appealing to Uttarakhand residents for their cooperation, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said, “Forest wealth is our heritage which we have to protect at all costs.”

Since November last year, there have been 910 incidents of forest fire in the state, due to which about 1145 hectares of forest have been affected.