NYT WORLD: Firefighters Battle ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Wildfire Near Athens
By Niki Kitsantonis and Mike Ives
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: August 12, 2024 at 03:00AM
By Niki Kitsantonis and Mike Ives
Section: World
Source: New York Times
Published Date: August 12, 2024 at 03:00AM
The blaze broke out in a town near the Greek capital on Sunday, damaging buildings and prompting evacuations. Strong winds have helped the fire spread.
Hundreds of firefighters in Greece were battling a major wildfire on Monday that broke out near Athens a day earlier and has raced through parched forest, destroying properties and prompting evacuation orders, according to the authorities.The fire started on Sunday afternoon in Varnavas, a town less than 30 miles north of Athens by road, and spread rapidly within minutes because of high winds, Greece’s national fire service said. In some places, the flames were more than 80 feet tall. A spokesman for the fire service, Vassilios Vathrakogiannis, said that despite “superhuman efforts” to contain the fire overnight, it had spread “like lightning.”
Two women embraced in Varnavas after being rescued on Sunday.
The blaze is one of the worst to threaten Athens, the capital, this year in what has been a busy fire season for the country, in part because of a dry winter and an exceptionally hot summer.
Greece’s civil protection authority placed several areas, including Athens, at “extreme fire risk” the highest level of risk in the country’s five-tier system for Monday.
Fire reached Vrilissia, an affluent suburb north of Athens. Television footage showed thick smoke there and at least one person spraying water from the roof of a house in an attempt to extinguish the flames.
Greece appealed to European partners for help and is expecting aircraft from France and Italy, as well as 75 firefighters and 25 vehicles from the Czech Republic, the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Ministry said in a statement.
The blaze is one of the worst to threaten Athens, the capital, this year in what has been a busy fire season for the country, in part because of a dry winter and an exceptionally hot summer.
Greece’s civil protection authority placed several areas, including Athens, at “extreme fire risk” the highest level of risk in the country’s five-tier system for Monday.
Fire reached Vrilissia, an affluent suburb north of Athens. Television footage showed thick smoke there and at least one person spraying water from the roof of a house in an attempt to extinguish the flames.
Greece appealed to European partners for help and is expecting aircraft from France and Italy, as well as 75 firefighters and 25 vehicles from the Czech Republic, the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Ministry said in a statement.
The authorities have ordered at least a dozen communities to evacuate, and television footage on Sunday showed motorists fleeing as flames lined the road near Varnavas. A children’s hospital, a military hospital and two monasteries were also evacuated. Greece’s Olympic sports complex, north of Athens, was opened overnight to house residents who had to abandon their homes.
There were no reports of casualties, though at least one firefighter experienced burns and several people were given first aid for breathing problems, a spokesman for the fire service said.
The full extent of the damage to forestland and homes was not immediately clear.
There were no reports of casualties, though at least one firefighter experienced burns and several people were given first aid for breathing problems, a spokesman for the fire service said.
The full extent of the damage to forestland and homes was not immediately clear.
At one point there were fears of a line of fires stretching for kilometres heading for Athens, whipped up by fierce winds and high temperatures.
Buildings and businesses have been left gutted by the flames in Vrilissia in the north-eastern suburbs, a mere 14km (eight miles) from the centre of the city.
The body of a 63-year-old woman was found in a burned-out factory in nearby Patima Halandriou, the first confirmed victim of this fire that has torn through 100,000 acres of land leaving dozens more people injured.
Colleagues said she had been too scared to jump from the building as the flames came close and was then trapped inside.
Suburbs including Nea Penteli, Vrilissia and Patima Halandriou are among the worst affected.
Even residents in areas of Athens that escaped the fire said on Tuesday they had found ash landing on their balconies.
The huge smoke cloud that for hours hung over Athens has now gone, although the sky is still hazy.
Firefighters say they are exhausted after days spent trying to stop the flames from encroaching further on the capital.
Suburbs including Nea Penteli, Vrilissia and Patima Halandriou are among the worst affected.
Even residents in areas of Athens that escaped the fire said on Tuesday they had found ash landing on their balconies.
The huge smoke cloud that for hours hung over Athens has now gone, although the sky is still hazy.
Firefighters say they are exhausted after days spent trying to stop the flames from encroaching further on the capital.
“We faced a level-five fire risk with winds of 7-8 Beaufort [gale force], prolonged drought, and a rugged area with these characteristics - mountains, forests, and scattered homes,” he said.
Marina described how she had been forced to flee her own neighbourhood in Nea Penteli for a nearby town, only to be evacuated a second time as the flames reached
"As we were leaving through the fire and the smoke and the rubble there were people begging us to take them with us," Marina remembered.
"But we were completely full and we had to refuse and see the agony in their faces. I called the police to alert them that there were people there that need someone to pick them up.”
Marble and stone merchant Thanassis Kevezes had to leave his business in Vrilissia on Monday as the smoke and flames took hold.
Returning to his yard the next morning he estimated that the fire had caused €30,000 (£25,000) in damage.
"But we were completely full and we had to refuse and see the agony in their faces. I called the police to alert them that there were people there that need someone to pick them up.”
Marble and stone merchant Thanassis Kevezes had to leave his business in Vrilissia on Monday as the smoke and flames took hold.
Returning to his yard the next morning he estimated that the fire had caused €30,000 (£25,000) in damage.
A major problem, he said, was the highly flammable pine trees that populated this area and much of Greece: “We love them as Greeks but at the same time I personally hate them now.”
In the suburbs of Vrilissia and Nea Penteli, and further to the north-east in Varnavas and the ancient town of Marathon, residents and business owners are counting the cost.
A pine forest burnt near Varnavas went up in flames and thousands of acres of farmland have been lost. Burning pine cones sent fizzing into the air made the task of fighting the fires that much harder.
Sotiris Evangelopoulos came to check the damage at his father-in-law’s house on the very north-eastern outskirts of Athens.
The property, thankfully, was fine but for some damage to the front yard.
Over his lifetime he has seen the summer temperatures soar higher and higher, and the season last even longer, while the winters have become warmer and shorter.
Mr Evangelopoulos criticises authorities for allowing the capital to expand further into the pine forests surrounding Athens, leaving people who live there more exposed to wildfires.
In the suburbs of Vrilissia and Nea Penteli, and further to the north-east in Varnavas and the ancient town of Marathon, residents and business owners are counting the cost.
A pine forest burnt near Varnavas went up in flames and thousands of acres of farmland have been lost. Burning pine cones sent fizzing into the air made the task of fighting the fires that much harder.
Sotiris Evangelopoulos came to check the damage at his father-in-law’s house on the very north-eastern outskirts of Athens.
The property, thankfully, was fine but for some damage to the front yard.
Over his lifetime he has seen the summer temperatures soar higher and higher, and the season last even longer, while the winters have become warmer and shorter.
Mr Evangelopoulos criticises authorities for allowing the capital to expand further into the pine forests surrounding Athens, leaving people who live there more exposed to wildfires.
Kostas Lagouvardos, Research Director at the National Observatory of Athens, agrees that has complicated the situation.
“It’s very difficult to find a solution because you have an expansion of the city towards an area where you have trees and forests.
“On the other hand you have climatic conditions that change from one year to the other. We’ve had three summers which are very hot and very dry and you have very large fires, not only in Athens, but in many other areas in Greece.”
A fresh evacuation order was issued on Tuesday for part of the seaside town of Nea Makri, and flames approached homes in the nearby town of Erythros. The strong winds of Sunday and Monday were not as fierce on Tuesday morning, but forecasters warned they would build up again during the afternoon.
Mr Lagouvardos believes policymakers and engineers need to work with national and local authorities to find a solution. But he is pessimistic for the future, and not just because of the increased risk of forest fires.
“You have implications for agriculture and health. You have a very long period of high temperatures in Athens this summer. You have many areas in the centre with high temperatures also at night which is a very bad problem for human health.”
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