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The government called on other EU member states to help put out the blaze, which burned out of control for a second day as strong winds pushed the fire to the ground from wooded hills north of the city.
Firefighters said the blaze, which threatened apartment buildings, schools and businesses, was the worst in the capital in more than two decades and showed no sign of abating as night fell.
More than 700 firefighters, supported by volunteers, 199 fire trucks and 35 seaplanes, are working to put out the fire, which broke out at 3pm local time on Sunday near the village of Varnavas, 35 kilometres north of Athens.
Greece is expecting assistance in the form of aircraft and firefighters from France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Türkiye.
“The situation remains extremely serious. The fire keeps breaking out, new outbreaks are occurring and it is spreading rapidly, coupled with strong winds,” said Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, a spokesman for the fire brigade.
Greece has always been plagued by wildfires in the summer, but climate change is causing hotter, drier weather to make the fires more frequent and more intense. Wildfires fueled by extreme heat have also ravaged parts of Spain and the Balkans.
As the fire approached backyards in the Athens suburb of Penteli, some residents of the wooded and hilly neighborhood stayed put, trying to douse the thick smoke with hoses or tree branches.
“It hurts, we grew up in the forest, we feel very sad and angry,” said resident Marina Kalogerakou, 24, as she covered her mouth and nose with a red handkerchief and poured a bucket of water over the burning stump.
Another resident, Pantelis Kyriazis, crashed his car while trying to escape the raging flames. “I didn’t see anything, I hit a pine tree and then this happened,” he said, pointing to his damaged car and holding his bleeding elbow.
Police and firefighters armed with torches went door to door in a Pentley neighborhood Monday night, searching for people who might have been abandoned.
Columns of smoke rose on the horizon and a burning smell hung over Athens. The fire spread to Vrilissia, about 14 kilometers from the center of the capital, although the suburb is separated from the city center by a highway.
In the nearby suburb of Gracas, a timber factory was engulfed in flames.
In the epicenter of the northern fire, firefighters and residents assessed the damage: abandoned homes and vehicles destroyed by the flames, hillsides scorched and trees reduced to branches.
“It took me 30 years to build all this,” said Vasilis Straubelis, 81, standing at the entrance to his damaged home. “Thirty years, and bam.”
Residents evacuated
No deaths were reported so far. Vatrakogiannis said rescuers and medical staff treated 13 people for smoke inhalation and two people for burns.
“It’s a terrible feeling. Seeing everything reduced to ashes… and we can’t do anything,” said Panteli resident Nikos Adamopoulos.
More than 30 areas were forced to evacuate residents, at least three hospitals were forced to evacuate, parts of Athens were without power, and passenger ferries bound for the port of Rafina, northeast of the capital, were forced to reroute.
In the northern Athens neighborhood of Lampentosa, Michalis Tsourtis, 75, said he ran away when he heard the flames “roaring” toward him.
But others stayed, lamenting that they had to make do with their own strength to survive.
“Three or four policemen came and told us to leave. We knew if we left, no one would protect our house,” said 71-year-old Sofia Giannopoulou.
The Mediterranean country experienced its hottest winter on record this year and is heading for its hottest summer ever. Much of Greece, including where this week’s fires began, has not seen rain in months.
Greece was on high fire alert until at least Thursday, with strong winds and temperatures expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius.
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