ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A large wildfire raged Monday on the northern fringes of the Greek capital, prompting numerous evacuation orders for the suburbs and outskirts of Athens as strong, swirling winds hampered the efforts of hundreds of firefighters and dozens of firefighters. Water jets.
The blaze, which started Sunday afternoon, gutted homes and sent a blanket of smoke and ash into central Athens, where the smell of burning lingered in the air, with flames reaching 25 meters (80 feet) high. Power was cut in several parts of the capital and traffic lights were also affected at key junctions in the centre.
Wildfires were spreading through dry pine forests Repeated heat waves This summer. June and July of this year were the hottest months ever recorded in Greece.
Authorities are “facing an exceptionally dangerous fire, which we have been fighting for more than 20 hours in dramatic conditions,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kigilias said late Monday. The fire is burning mainly on two separate fronts, some parts of which are very difficult to reach on a hill northeast of Athens, Kigilias said.
A children’s hospital and a military hospital, two monasteries and a children’s home were evacuated, and one hospital was scheduled to be evacuated on Monday afternoon. More than two dozen emergency push alerts were sent to cell phones in the area warning people to flee, while homes burned in several areas, though the exact number was not immediately known.
“The wind goes one way and then the other. The smoke was suffocating. You can’t see. Your eyes teared up. You can’t breathe. You can’t see the house,” said Spyros Korilas, a resident of the Dioni area, who poured water on his house to save it from the fire. “You couldn’t even see the helicopter that dropped the water. You could only hear. Nothing else.”
Evacuation orders were issued for the Athens suburbs throughout the day as strong winds continued to blow. Fire department spokesman Col. Vassilios Vatrakogiannis said authorities had encountered more than 40 explosions in areas where the flames had partially subsided since early Monday morning.
According to the fire department, 685 firefighters, including more than 80 armed forces personnel, are fighting the blaze, supported by 27 teams specially trained to deal with forest fires. More than 190 vehicles were deployed with air support of 17 water-dropping aircraft and 16 helicopters.
Three Athens hospitals were on high alert, while paramedics and ambulances treated two firefighters — one for minor burns and another for respiratory problems — and 13 civilians for respiratory problems, Vatrakogiannis said. The Medical Association of Athens has urged people living near affected areas to be cautious, especially those with chronic conditions, the elderly, pregnant women, young children and those with respiratory and heart problems.
Greece’s coast guard diverted all boats to the nearby port of Rafina due to the fire.
The police department said 380 police officers, along with 77 vehicles, 36 motorcycles, three buses and four vans, were helping with the evacuation and had helped move more than 250 people from the path of the flames by midnight. It posted a video on its social media channels showing police officers carrying elderly people in their arms out of homes and into waiting vehicles, against the backdrop of a night sky turned red from fire and smoke.
While fire officials urged residents to follow evacuation orders, some who refused to leave their homes later became trapped and required rescue, putting firefighters’ lives at risk.
Meteorologists and government officials have warned that the weather from Sunday to Thursday will increase wildfire risk, with half the country placed under “red alert” for bushfire risk.
Forest fires are common in Greece during hot, dry summers, but officials say climate change is fueling larger and more frequent fires. In 2018, A huge fire broke out in the coastal town of MattiEast of Athens, people were trapped in their homes and on roads as they tried to flee in their cars. More than 100 people died, including some who drowned trying to swim away from the fire.
Last year more than 20 people were killed in wildfires in Greece 18 migrants caught in the fire They were walking through a forest in northeastern Greece and were caught in a huge fire that had been burning for more than two weeks.
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Lefteris Pitarakis in Dioni, Greece and Derek Katopoulos in Athens, Greece contributed.
