ATHENS, Greece — A large wildfire raged out of control on the northern outskirts of the Greek capital on Monday, forcing evacuations in Athens suburbs and surrounding areas as strong, swirling winds hampered the efforts of hundreds of firefighters and dozens of water-dropping planes.
Faced with a massive, quickly spreading blaze that sent flames soaring at times to heights of over 25 meters (80 feet), Greece requested assistance from other countries, activating Europe’s mutual civil protection mechanism.
The fire, which began on Sunday afternoon, destroyed homes and blanketed central Athens with smoke and ash, leaving a lingering smell of burning in the air. Power outages were reported in several parts of the capital, also affecting traffic lights at major intersections in the city center.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin stated that 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, while Spain and Turkey were also finalizing reinforcements to send to Greece.
The wildfire was rapidly spreading through pine forests left extremely dry by this summer. June and July of this year were the hottest months ever recorded in Greece, which also experienced its warmest winter on record.
Authorities are confronting “an exceptionally dangerous fire, which we have been combating for more than 20 hours under challenging conditions,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said mid-morning Monday. The fire was burning primarily on two separate fronts, with some parts in particularly difficult to reach areas on a mountain northeast of Athens, Kikilias said.
A children’s hospital and a military hospital, two monasteries, and a children’s home were evacuated, while another hospital was scheduled to be evacuated on Monday afternoon. More than two dozen emergency push alerts were sent to cellphones in the area advising people to evacuate, while homes in several areas were destroyed, although the exact number was not immediately available.
“The wind shifted direction constantly. The smoke was stifling. You couldn’t see anything. Your eyes watered. You couldn’t breathe. You couldn’t see the house,” said Spyros Gorilas, a resident of the area of Dioni who used a hose to douse his house with water to protect 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 additional Athens suburbs as strong winds continued unabated. Fire Department spokesperson Col. Vassileios Vathrakogiannis said authorities had encountered more than 40 flare-ups since the early hours of Monday in areas where the flames had subsided somewhat.
The fire department reported that 685 firefighters, supported by 27 teams specially trained to handle wildfires and including more than 80 armed forces personnel, were battling the flames. More than 190 vehicles were deployed, with aerial assistance from 17 water-dropping planes and 16 helicopters.
Three Athens hospitals were on high alert, while paramedics and ambulances treated two firefighters — one for minor burns and the other for respiratory issues — and 13 civilians for respiratory 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 traveling to and from the nearby port of Rafina, which primarily serves 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 with 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 into waiting vehicles, against a backdrop of a night sky turned red by the flames and smoke.
The fire department appealed to residents to heed evacuation orders, with authorities noting that some people who refused to leave their homes later became trapped and required rescue, endangering the lives of firefighters.
Meteorologists and government officials have issued warnings about the heightened risk of wildfires due to weather conditions from Sunday until Thursday, with half of the country placed under a red alert for wildfire hazard.
Wildfires are common in Greece during its hot, dry summers, but authorities have stated that climate change is contributing to larger and more frequent blazes. In 2018, , east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on roads as they attempted to flee in their cars. More than 100 people died, including some who drowned trying to escape the flames.
Last year, wildfires in Greece killed more than 20 people, including as they trekked through a forest in northeastern Greece and were caught by a massive fire that burned for more than two weeks.