ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A major wildfire raged out of control in the northern suburbs of Athens on Monday, triggering evacuations of several areas as swirling winds hampered efforts of hundreds of firefighters and dozens of water-dropping planes.
Faced with a massive, fast-moving blaze that sent flames towering at times to heights of over 25 meters (80 feet), Greece sought and was promised assistance from other countries, activating Europe's mutual civil protection mechanism.
The fire that began Sunday afternoon burned homes and sent a blanket of smoke and ash over central Athens, where the smell of burning lingered in the air. Power cuts hit parts of the capital and affected traffic lights at major junctions in the center.
The blaze reached and damaged outlying sections of an Athens suburb about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city center. There were no reports of trapped residents, and authorities said 15 people were injured across areas afflicted by the fire, mostly due to smoke inhalation.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said France would send a helicopter, 180 civil security personnel and 55 fire engines. Greece's civil protection authority said Italy was sending two water-dropping planes and the Czech Republic was sending 75 firefighters and 25 vehicles. Spain and Turkey were also finalizing reinforcements to send to Greece.
The wildfire was racing through pine forests left tinder-dry by repeated heat waves this summer. June and July of this year were the hottest months ever recorded in Greece, which also recorded its warmest winter ever. An early start of the fire season this year has strained the country's firefighting force.
“Firefighters have been working at full tilt for months,” said Nikos Lavranos, head of Greece's main firefighters' union. “They are exhausted.”
Authorities are faced with “an exceptionally dangerous fire, which we have been fighting for more than 20 hours under dramatic circumstances,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said Monday. The fire was burning mainly on two separate fronts, with some parts in particularly difficult to reach areas on a mountain northeast of Athens, Kikilias said.
Three hospitals including one for children, two monasteries and a children’s home were evacuated Monday afternoon. At least 30 emergency push alerts were sent to cellphones in the area warning people to flee, while homes in several areas were burned, although the exact number was not immediately clear.
“The wind would go in one direction and then in the other. The smoke was suffocating. You couldn’t see. Your eyes teared up. You couldn’t breathe. You couldn’t see the house," said Spyros Gorilas, a resident of the area of Dioni who hosed down his house with water to save it from the flames. "Even the helicopter that dropped water, you couldn’t see it. You could only hear it. Nothing else.”
Evacuation orders were issued throughout the day for yet more Athens suburbs as strong winds continued unabated. Fire Department spokesperson Col. Vassileios Vathrakogiannis said authorities had been faced with more than 40 flareups since the early hours of Monday in areas where the flames had somewhat abated.
The fire department said 702 firefighters, backed by 27 teams specially trained to tackle wildfires and including more than 80 armed forces personnel, were battling the flames. More than 190 vehicles were deployed, with aerial support from 17 water-dropping planes and 16 helicopters.
Three Athens hospitals were on heightened alert, while paramedics and ambulances treated two firefighters — one for light burns and the other for breathing problems — and 13 civilians for breathing problems, Vathrakogiannis said. The Athens Medical Association urged residents near affected areas to exercise caution, especially those with chronic conditions, the elderly, pregnant women, young children, and those with respiratory and heart problems.
Greece's coast guard diverted all ferries going to and from the nearby port of Rafina, which serves mainly the Cycladic islands and Crete, to the port of Lavrion due to the fire, while authorities were providing temporary shelter for evacuees in sports halls and hotels.
The police department said 380 police officers with 77 vehicles, 36 motorcycles, three buses and four vans were assisting in evacuations, and by mid-morning had helped move more than 250 people away from the path of the flames. It posted a video on its social media channels showing police officers carrying elderly people in their arms out of houses and to waiting vehicles, against a backdrop of a night sky turned red from the flames and smoke.
The fire department appealed to residents to follow evacuation orders, with authorities noting that some people who refused to leave their homes later became trapped and required rescuing, endangering the lives of firefighters.
Meteorologists and government officials have warned of the heightened danger of wildfires because of weather conditions from Sunday until Thursday, with half of the country placed under a red alert for wildfire hazard.
Wildfires are frequent in Greece during its hot, dry summers, but authorities have said climate change is fueling bigger and more frequent blazes. 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 in their cars. More than 100 people died, including some who drowned trying to swim away from the flames.
Last year, wildfires in Greece killed more than 20 people, including 18 migrants who became trapped by the flames as they trekked through a forest in northeastern Greece and were caught by a massive fire that burned for more than two weeks.
Wildfires also plagued neighboring North Macedonia and Albania Monday, amid high summer temperatures and strong winds.
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Lefteris Pitarakis in Dioni, Greece, Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Greece, and Elise Morton in London contributed.
Elena Becatoros, The Associated Press