Greek forest fire rages: tens of thousands evacuated near Athens

Smoke from multiple forest fires blanketed parts of Athens on Sunday as Greece experienced extreme temperatures that are set to continue into next week.

The historic city of Marathon was evacuated on Sunday evening due to a fire. It is located 40 kilometers northeast of Athens and has more than 7,000 residents. Earlier in the day, another fire broke out in Megara, western Attica, and local residents were also warned to evacuate. In the east of the country, near Thessaloniki, a vegetation fire in Lagadas was partially under control. Several other towns and villages, as well as two hospitals, were also evacuated in the early hours.

evacuation

“Forest fire near you. Follow the instructions of the authorities,” the civil protection service wrote in a text message to all concerned in the area, along with instructions for evacuation sites. Greek authorities opened the Spiridon Louis Olympic Stadium north of Athens, the country’s largest sports venue, to accommodate thousands of displaced people.

Greek media said several people were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation. The statement said the tourist area was not threatened by the fire for the time being. Fire brigades were deployed in large numbers to put out the fire.

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Other areas also had to be evacuated on Monday due to forest fires. Simos Roussos, mayor of the Athens suburb of Chalandri, announced the evacuation of communities closest to the fire via public broadcaster ERT. Chalandri has 70,000 residents and is located northeast of Athens. “We decided to carry out a precautionary evacuation because of the wind direction,” Roussos said.

A spokesman for the fire brigade said the fire continued to spread despite firefighting efforts carried out overnight from Sunday to Monday. According to ERT, the fire has spread over an area of ​​more than 30 kilometers. Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said a total of 670 firefighters and 183 vehicles were deployed. There were also 32 firefighting aircraft flying over the area.

No control

Kostas Lagouvardos, director of research at the Athens Observatory, told TV channel ERT on Sunday that quick action was needed to put out the fire. Otherwise, the fire could quickly become uncontrollable due to weather conditions.

Raguvardos said wind speeds reached 80 to 90 kilometers per hour in different areas, making Monday the most difficult day of the week to extinguish the fires.

Greece is highly susceptible to forest fires in the summer, especially after an unusually dry winter. June and July were the hottest months since measurements began in 1960. Greece’s civil protection minister warned on Saturday that half of the country will be at a heightened risk of forest fires until at least August 15 due to high temperatures, strong winds and drought. In 2018, a fire near Marathon killed 104 people. That tragedy was also blamed on evacuation delays and mistakes.