The armed forces on Saturday sent four Canadair water-dropping airplanes, two PZL airplanes, four fire engines, two water tanker trucks, three coaches, a bulldozer, and a fuel tanker to assist the effort to put out a fire at the seaside resort Vatera on the island of Lesvos.

In addition, the Hellenic Navy gunboat "Kasos" will sail to the region to assist.

By Saturday afternoon, the forest fire that broke out earlier broke out on the island had reached and entered the resort of Vatera, burning homes and businesses. Fire-fighters, volunteers, local residents and business owners joined in the battle to stop the flames, which in some places reached right up 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.

In a briefing concerning the fire on Lesvos, fire brigade spokesperson Yiannis Artopios said that it started at 10:04 on Saturday, with 50 fire fighters, two ground teams and 17 fire engines deployed to fight the blaze from the start, assisted by volunteers and local authority water tanker trucks. Nine water-bombing aircraft and one Mi8 helicopter permanently stationed on Lesvos were also operating from the air.

At 11:25, a message was sent via the 112 emergency number instructing those in Vatera to evacuate the area and go to Polychnitos.