ATHENS

A wildfire that broke out last Saturday in Greece’s northeastern Evros region is the country’s biggest in the past two decades, the National Observatory of Athens said Thursday.

Elaborating on data provided by the European Commission’s Copernicus mapping service, the observatory said that 292,587 hectares (722,998 acres) of forest area had been burned to ashes by wildfires in the region’s Alexandroupolis and Dadia areas as of noon Aug. 23.

It added that 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of forest area had burned in the country in 16 mega wildfires since 2007, with the one in Evros being the largest.

European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that the wildfires in Alexandroupolis are the largest the European Union has ever faced.

"We must continue strengthening national & collective prevention and preparedness efforts in view of more brutal fire seasons,” he added.

Wildfires in Greece, spurred by strong winds and high temperatures, are raging for a sixth day.