Greece’s worst wildfire this year spread into the Athens suburbs on Monday, forcing hundreds of people to flee as it torched trees, homes and cars overnight and choked busy roads with smoke and ash.
The government has called in help from fellow EU members to tackle the fire, which was is burning out of control for a second day, fanned by gale force winds and having spread from the wooded hills north of the city.
Firefighters said flames, threatening apartment blocks, schools and parks, had reached the deepest into the capital for more than two decades.
Almost 700 firefighters backed by volunteers, 190 fire engines and 33 waterbombing aircraft have been battling the conflagration, whichbroke out on Sunday afnear the village of Varnavas, 35km north of Athens.
Greece has activated the European civil protection mechanism and was expecting assistance from France, Italy and the Czech Republic with aircraft and firefighters. It has also been offered help by Spain, Cyprus and Turkey, a government official said.
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As the flames closed in on backyards on the outskirts of Athens, some residents in the wooded and hilly Penteli neighbourhood stayed put, trying to put out pockets of fire using hoses or tree branches as smoke swirled around them.
“It hurts, we have grown up in the forest, we feel great sadness and anger,” said resident Marina Kalogerakou (24), her mouth and nose covered by a red bandana as she poured a bucket of water on a burning tree stump.
Another resident, Pantelis Kyriazis, crashed his car as he tried to escape the encroaching flames. “I couldn’t see, I hit a pine tree and this is what happened,” he said, gesturing towards his damaged car and nursing a bleeding elbow.
Columns of smoke rose over the horizon and a burning smell cloaked Athens. By Monday afternoon the fire had reached Vrilissia, about 14km from the heart of the capital, albeit with highways separating the suburb from the city centre.
To the north, at the epicentre of the fire, firefighters took stock of the damage: abandoned homes and vehicles gutted by fire, hillsides blackened. trees reduced to sticks.
There were so far no reports of deaths. Thirteen people were treated by rescuers and medical staff for smoke inhalation and two firefighters for burns, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.
More than 25 areas and at least three hospitals were forced to evacuate, officials said, and power cuts occurred in parts of the wider Athens region. Passenger ferries heading to the port of Rafina, northeast of the capital, were diverted.
Police had so far helped evacuate more than 250 people, and some residents spent the night in shelters.
“It’s a very large fire with very aggressive behaviour and many fronts. It’s very close to the city,” said Kostas Lagouvardos, research director of the Athens Observatory.
Summers in Greece have long been marked by wildfires but hotter, drier weather linked to climate change have made blazes more frequent and intense. Wildfires fanned by extreme heat have also raged this month in parts of Spain and the Balkans.
The southeastern Mediterranean country this year experienced its warmest winter on record and is on track for its hottest ever summer. Large areas of Greece, including the location of this week’s blaze, have seen little or no rain for months.
Greece iwas on high fire alert at least until Thursday with temperatures forecast to reach up to 40 degrees). Authorities called for an emergency response involving the army, police and volunteers during that period.
On Sunday, the blaze threw up flames as high as 25m and spread “like lightning”, the fire brigade said.
The village of Grammatiko north of Athens, the seaside municipality of Nea Makri and the town of Marathonas were also affected on Monday. – Reuters