Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Greek capital on high alert as forest fire flames as high as 80 feet approach Athens


A wildfire approaches houses at Penteli mount northeast of Athens on Monday, defying desperate efforts by firefighters to halt the flames. Authorities said it was headed toward Penteli fanned by strong winds and scorching temperatures having raced across the Penteli mountain range overnight. Photo by George Vitsaras/EPA-EFE

Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Greek authorities battling wildfires threatening the capital, Athens, ordered people in seven northern suburbs and a children's hospital to evacuate.

The fire service said it had issued instructions via phone and text for the residents of Nea Penteli, Palia Penteli, Drafi, Dioni, Damarasi, Daou Pentelis and Agios Spyridonas, along with staff and patients of the Penteli Children's and 414 Military hospitals, to be moved to safety.

People in Anthousa, 9 miles northeast of downtown Athens, were put on notice to prepare for possible evacuation with other branches of the fire threatening Nea Makri, a town of about 17,000 people further to the east on the other side of Penteli Mountain and Grammatiko, south of where the blaze started.

A third front was also said to be gathering strength at Kallitechnoupoli, 14 miles east of downtown Athens.

Two monasteries were also evacuated as hundreds of firefighters, more than 180 vehicles and 32 aircraft battled the flames. Television crews filmed flames getting dangerously close to houses as helicopters dumped fire retardants to try to arrest their advance.

The fire has been advancing rapidly southward toward Athens since breaking out at Varnavas early Sunday, 22 miles northeast of the city, fanned by strong winds and temperatures in the mid-30s Celsius that are forecast to edge close to 40 degrees Celsius in coming days.

Houses in Varnavas were reported to have been set alight by the blaze while Athens was reported to be very hot with the smell of burning in the air beneath a smoke-darkened sky.

Strong winds throughout Sunday night created dangerous conditions and with wind intensity expected to increase in the coming hours, Fire Services spokesman Vasilis Vathrakogiannis urged residents of areas where the fire is burning to heed instructions from authorities for their own safety and well-being.

However, the BBC reported that some local residents were refusing to leave their homes in order to try to protect their properties.

Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias said 670 fire-fighters, 27 forest commando units, 183 vehicles, 17 airplanes and 15 helicopters were deployed to fight the fires, while wind speeds remained high at 7 on the Beaufort Scale -- 32-38 mph -- and were forecast to remain at those levels for the next few hours.

Flames were reported to be as high as 80 feet.

"Since yesterday afternoon, the residents of northeastern Attica have been tested by an extremely dangerous fire, which we have been fighting for more than 20 hours in extremely difficult conditions due to the strong winds and extended drought and the very rough and inaccessible terrain in a dense, unburnt forest," said Kikilias.
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The fires around Athens are among 40 that have ignited across the country in the past 24 hours with firefighters battling some of the blazes after Greece saw its hottest June and July since modern record-keeping began in 1960.

Crews battle scattered fires in Athens suburbs, helped by calmer winds and reinforcements

BY ELENA BECATOROS
August 13, 2024

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Firefighters in Greece battled scattered fires as Tuesday broke, hoping to contain the remains of the major wildfire that burned into the northern suburbs of Athens, triggering evacuations and leaving at least one person dead.

With strong winds that had fanned the flames on Sunday and Monday dying down overnight, the fire department said the fire no longer had any active, advancing fronts and firefighters were concentrating their efforts on extinguishing the flames in hundreds of slow-burning areas.

Authorities were racing to extinguish as much of the blaze as possible ahead of Tuesday afternoon, when winds were predicted to pick up again, with a forecast of gusts reaching up to 60-70 kilometers (37-43 miles) per hour.

Reinforcements in the form of water-dropping aircraft, firefighters and vehicles were arriving from France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Serbia and Romania.

The blaze began Sunday afternoon near Lake Marathon, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) northeast of Athens, coursed across Mount Pendeli and descended onto the northern and northeastern suburbs of Athens.


Drop in winds offers hope as firefighters battle huge wildfire on fringes of Athens. 1 person dead

Firefighters found the burned body of a woman in an industrial building in the suburb of Vrilissia just after midnight. The woman was believed to have been an employee who became trapped inside the building in an area that had been under evacuation orders. More than a dozen people were treated by paramedics, mostly for smoke inhalation, while five firefighters suffered light burns and breathing problems, the fire department said.

Three hospitals, including a children’s hospital, two monasteries and a children’s home were evacuated on Monday afternoon. At least 30 push alerts were sent to cell phones in the area warning people in several Athens suburbs and settlements further from the city to flee.

The flames, which reached heights of about 25 meters (80 feet), were fanned by strong winds that hampered the efforts of more than 700 firefighters and nearly three dozen water-dropping planes and helicopters on Monday.

Six water-dropping plans and six helicopters took off at first light on Tuesday, the fire department said, to back up the hundreds of firefighters on the ground. Dozens of homes and businesses were reported to have burned, although authorities did not yet have an exact number.

The wildfire raced through pine forests left tinder-dry by repeated heat waves this summer. June and July were the hottest months ever recorded in Greece, which also recorded its warmest winter ever. An early start of the fire season this year has strained Greece’s firefighting force.

“Firefighters have been working at full tilt for months,” said Nikos Lavranos, head of Greece’s main firefighters’ union. “They are exhausted.”

On Monday, police said 380 police officers had assisted in evacuations, helping to move more than 250 people away from the path of the flames. It posted a video on social media showing officers carrying elderly people out of their homes to waiting vehicles against the backdrop of a flame-red nighttime sky

Authorities said some people who refused to leave their homes later became trapped and required rescuing, endangering the lives of firefighters. The affected areas — at the closest, some 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the heart of Athens — typically have thousands of residents. However, it was unclear how many were away on vacation at the height of the summer season, and how many had obeyed the evacuation orders or stayed on their own to fight the blaze.

Meteorologists warned of the increased danger of wildfires because of weather conditions from Sunday until Thursday. Dozens of other wildfires also broke out in several parts of Greece on Monday.

Wildfires are frequent in the Mediterranean country during its hot, dry summers, but authorities have said climate change is fueling bigger and more frequent blazes.

In 2018, a massive fire swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on the roads as they tried to flee in their cars. More than 100 people died, including some who drowned trying to swim away from the flames.

Last year, wildfires in Greece killed more than 20 people, including 18 migrants who became trapped by the flames as they trekked through a forest in northeastern Greece and were caught by a massive blaze that burned for more than two weeks.




A general view of Athens with the Acropolis hill is seen as fire burns the northern part of the city on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, Hundreds of firefighters are tackling a major wildfire raging out of control on the fringes of the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)


Two men try to extinguish the flames at a burning business during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)


Volunteers try to extinguish the fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)


A volunteer tries to extinguish the fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)


Volunteers try to extinguish the fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)


A volunteer holds a hose amid smoke during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)


The fire burns a vehicle during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)


Volunteers try to extinguish the fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)


A volunteer throws a bucket of water to the flames during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)


A volunteer tries to extinguish the fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)

Volunteers try to extinguish the fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)

A volunteer holds a hose amid smoke during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)

Volunteers try to extinguish the flames near a house during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)

Flames burn a vehicle at a business during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)

A firefighter stands in front of a burning business during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)

A general view of the of Athens with the Acropolis hill as fire burns the northern part of the city on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, while hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

This satellite image shows smoke rising from wildfires in East Attica, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Athens, which burned into the northern suburbs of Athens, triggering evacuations and leaving at least one person dead, on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. 
(Planet Labs PBC via AP)

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