Residents fled their homes in the village of Varnava near Athens on Sunday as firefighters tried to bring under control a fast-spreading wildfire fanned by hot, windy weather that sent clouds of smoke over the Greek capital.
More than 250 firefighters, supported by twelve firefighting planes and seven helicopters, fought the fire, which broke out at 3 p.m. and quickly reached the village, 35 kilometers north of Athens.
“The village was surrounded in no time. It’s really windy,” said local resident Katerina Fylaktou. “It started at one point and suddenly the whole village was surrounded,” she said.
Authorities issued evacuation warnings for five nearby areas. In the early evening, thick brown smoke hung over large parts of Athens and reached the southern island of Aegina.
Greek Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said the fire in Varnava had spread due to stormy winds.
Flames up to 25 meters high devoured trees and bushland.
Another fire in a forest area near the town of Megara west of Athens had been contained by Sunday afternoon, the fire department said.
In several other regions of Greece there was an increased risk of fire alarms on Sunday and Monday.
“We are expecting a very difficult week,” said Kostas Lagouvardos, head of research at the Athens Observatory. “If the fire in Varnava is not contained during the night, we will have a problem tomorrow,” he said.
When darkness falls, the firefighting aircraft stop their operations.
On Saturday, Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said he had called for emergency measures involving the army, police and volunteers to fight the forest fires by August 15.
“There will be extremely high temperatures and dangerous weather conditions,” he said.
“Half of Greece will be in the red.”
In June and July, above-average temperatures were recorded on 57 of 61 days, said Lagouvardos. Greece is forecast to have its hottest summer ever.
