Residents flee as wildfire rages uncontrolled near Athens

ATHENS – Residents fled their homes in the village of Varnava near Greece’s capital Athens on Aug 11 as fire crews struggled to contain a fast-moving wildfire fuelled by hot, windy weather.

More than 250 firefighters backed by 12 water-bombing planes and seven helicopters battled the blaze that broke out at 3pm and quickly reached the village some 35km north of Athens.

By late afternoon, a thick cloud of brown smoke hovered over parts of the capital.

The authorities sent evacuation alerts for five nearby areas.

“The fire entered the village within 10 minutes. The winds were very strong,” a Varnava resident who fled with her children and dog told Skai TV.

Fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said the blaze took on very large dimensions because of gale-force winds in the area.

Flames as high as 25m swallowed up trees and shrubland.

Hundreds of wildfires have broken out across Greece

this summer, which just recorded its hottest June and July on record after its warmest winter. Scientists have linked the spread of these wildfires, like those elsewhere in the Mediterranean, to increasingly hot, dry weather driven by global climate change.

Another blaze in a forested area near the town of Megara, west of Athens, had been contained by Aug 11 afternoon, the fire brigade said.

Several other regions across Greece were on high alert for fire risk on Aug 11 and 12.

“We are expecting a very difficult week,” said Athens Observatory research director Kostas Lagouvardos. “If the Varnava blaze is not contained during the night, we will have a problem tomorrow.”

Firefighting aircraft cease operations at dusk.

On Aug 10, Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said he had called for emergency measures involving the army, police and volunteers to deal with forest fires until Aug 15.

“Extremely... dangerous weather conditions will prevail,” he said.

“Half of Greece will be in the red.”

In June and July, above-normal temperatures were registered in 57 out of 61 days, Dr Lagouvardos said. Greece is forecast to record its hottest-ever summer. REUTERS