Fire Devours Greek Island; Residents Urged to Flee

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Fire Devours Greek Island; Residents Urged to Flee

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Smoke and ash turned the sky orange and blocked out the sun above Greece's second-largest island Sunday as a wildfire devoured forests and  encroached on villages, triggering evacuation alerts.

The fire on the island of Evia began August 3 and cut across the popular summer destination from coast to coast as it burned out of control. Homes and businesses have been destroyed and thousands of residents and tourists have fled, many escaping by boat.

That fire now is the most severe of dozens that broke out in Greece in the wake of the country's worst heat wave in three decades, which sent temperatures soaring to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) for days.

Greek and European officials have blamed climate change for the large number of fires in Southern Europe this summer, from Italy to the Balkans, Greece and Turkey.

Devoured - to destroy (eat)

Encroached on - to slowly approach something

in the wake of - because of

soaring - rise quickly

triggering - to cause something to start