Athens suburbs brace for night inferno as blaze
burns homes
EURACTIV.com
with Reuters 6:44
Owners of a
honey processing factory are evacuated by police as a bushfire approaches the
facility during a bushfire in Aspropyrgos, near Athens, Greece, 10 July 2021.
Four fires, all in areas of dried grass, were burning simultaneously in
different locations in the western Attica towns of Elefsina and Aspropyrgos on
10 July, while a forest fire in Varnavas, in the northeast of Attica was still
raging unchecked. [EPA-EFE/KOSTAS TSIRONIS]
A wildfire raged uncontrolled north of
Athens on Tuesday (3 August), burning homes and forcing authorities to order
more evacuations as they grappled with 81 forest fires during Greece’s worst
heatwave in over 30 years.
As night
fell, more than 500 firefighters battled the blaze on the lower slopes of Mount
Parnitha, assisted by nine helicopters, seven aircraft and 305 police in a
densely vegetated area in the suburbs of Varympopi and Adames.
“It is a
difficult day for the country, we had 81 forest fires in the last 24 hours due
to the extreme weather conditions,” Deputy Civil Protection Minister Nikos
Hardalias told reporters.
Temperatures
of more than 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and winds have fanned wildfires in
different areas of Greece in recent days. On Tuesday, some places recorded
temperatures of over 46 Celsius (115 Fahrenheit).
The blaze
north of Athens had three main fronts at the towns of Varympopi, Adames and
Thrakomakedones, scorching homes and cars and forcing residents to flee.
“We will
continue our fight through the night, our priority is to save lives,” the
minister said.
Authorities
had removed valuables at the former royal estate at Tatoi nearby and the civil
protection service ordered residents of the Olympic Village to leave their
homes. They could stay at designated hotels at the state’s expense.
Seven
people were taken to hospital with breathing problems.
Earlier,
children were evacuated from a summer camp and residents were ordered out of
their homes in the suburbs of Varympopi, Adames and Thrakomakedones, some 20 km
north of central Athens.
Some stayed
on to defend their houses with garden hoses. Explosions sounded as the wildfire
engulfed an unknown number of homes. Equestrian clubs let horses loose to flee
the fire.
Prime
Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited a fire brigade operations centre
coordinating efforts to contain the blaze and other fires, in the Peloponnese
Peninsula and on the islands of Evia and Kos.
“All
available means and resources have been deployed in the fight on multiple
fronts,” his office said in a statement. “In these difficult times, the
priority is to protect human lives.”
In Athens,
the power grid operator IPTO said the fire had damaged parts of the grid,
posing a major risk to the electricity supply in parts of the metropolitan
region.
“Dozens of
homes are being burnt,” Michalis Vrettos, deputy mayor of the Acharnes region,
told Open TV as thick plumes of smoke rose over the houses behind him.
The fire
disrupted train services and forced authorities to seal off part of a national
motorway.
Europe is
grappling with a summer of extreme weather, from heavy flooding in the north to
the severe heatwaves and fires that have engulfed several areas in the
Mediterranean region.
Greece’s
neighbour, Turkey, was fighting wildfires near some of its most popular tourist
resorts for a seventh consecutive day on Tuesday.
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