5 hours ago
1
Urgent evacuation orders have been issued for five communities south of Athens as a large wildfire, fanned by strong winds and exacerbated by Greece's first summer heatwave, rages near the capital. The blaze broke out on Thursday in the Palaia Fokaia seaside area, with temperatures soaring close to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
The fire department has deployed 90 firefighters, supported by eight water-dropping planes and five helicopters, to battle the inferno. Reportedly originating within a populated area, the flames have sent thick plumes of smoke billowing across the sky, with local television footage showing at least one house already consumed by the blaze.
As a precautionary measure, the coast guard has positioned two patrol boats and nine private vessels on standby in the Palaia Fokaia area, ready for a potential evacuation by sea. A lifeboat is also en route to assist with any maritime rescue operations.
"We're telling people to leave their homes," local town councilor Apostolos Papadakis said on Greece's state-run ERT television.
The entire wider Athens area, as well as several Aegean islands, were on Level 4 of a 5-level scale for the danger of wildfires due to the weather conditions, with the heat wave expected to last until the weekend.
Earlier in the week, hundreds of firefighters took four days to bring a major wildfire under control on the eastern Aegean island of Chios. More than a dozen evacuation orders had been issued for Chios, where the flames devoured forest and farmland. The fire department said one woman had been arrested on suspicion of having contributed to that fire's start - reportedly by discarding a cigarette.
Wildfires are frequent in Greece during its hot, dry summers. In 2018, a massive fire swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on roads as they tried to flee. More than 100 died, including some who drowned trying to swim away from the flames.
On Wednesday it was revealed a Georgian woman was arrested on suspected of discarding a cigarette that helped trigger one of several wildfires razing land and threatening homes on the island of Chios.
Blazes broke out on Chios in the Aegean Sea on Sunday and tore through 10,000 acres of mainly bush and pasture land in three days, Greece's climate crisis and civil protection ministry said on Wednesday.
The ongoing flames also caused significant disruption, including power outages, water shortages, and damage to property.
