How serious are the wildfires near Athens, Greece? | Weather News

At least one person has died after one of Greece’s worst wildfires this year broke out on the outskirts of the capital, Athens, on Sunday. Authorities say the fires are now mostly under control with only a few “scattered hot spots”, but could spark up again later in the week.

In recent years, wildfires have become a common occurrence in summer for Greece as climate change has caused intense heatwaves and reduced rainfall in the Mediterranean country, creating ideal fire conditions.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) and Greenpeace, 42,900 hectares (106,0000 acres) of land were burned by wildfires in Greece in 2023.

This figure is nearly double the area burned in 2022 and triple the amount in 2020.

Here’s what we know about the latest bout of wildfires in Greece:

Where did the wildfires start?

While the precise cause of the fires is unknown, the flames began on Sunday at 3pm local time (12:00 GMT) following a period of hot and dry weather near Varnavas, 35km (22 miles) north of the capital, Athens.

The wildfire spread through nearby pine forests, which had been rendered tinder-dry by the intense heat.

The flames, which had spread from the wooded, hilly area into the suburbs by Monday, triggered panic among residents who had not seen a wildfire this close to the capital in decades.

Sakis Morfis told the French news agency, AFP, outside his home in Vrilissia, that “never in a million years did I think a fire would come here”.

“We’re without clothes, money, everything was burned inside,” he said.

The affected areas typically have thousands of residents, but due to the fire happening at the height of the summer holiday season, it is unclear how many obeyed evacuation orders or stayed.

The wildfire revived memories of the deadly July 2018 fires in Mati, a seaside town near Marathon, in which 104 people died. The tragedy was later blamed on evacuation delays and errors.

How have the authorities reacted?

More than 560 firefighters, backed by volunteers, 17 water-bombing planes and 15 helicopters, started trying to extinguish the flames on Sunday.

The fire spread quickly, however, and by Monday morning had reached the village of Grammatiko, the ancient town of Marathon, the seaside municipality of Nea Makri, and Mount Pentelicus just north of Athens.

By Monday afternoon, three hospitals, including a children’s hospital, two monasteries and a children’s home, had been evacuated, and at least 30 mobile push alerts were sent to residents in the affected regions to warn them to flee the areas affected by the fire.

On Monday, Greek police said they had helped evacuate more than 250 people in affected areas.

How far have the fires spread since then?

The fire has now spread across neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the capital and close to it and has badly hit the suburbs of Nea Penteli, Palaia Penteli, Patima Chalandri and Vrilissia.

Greece’s National Observatory said satellite images showed the fire had damaged around 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of land.

Local newspaper Proto Thema also said that the fire had damaged 100 homes so far.

Have there been any casualties or injuries?

In the suburb of Vrilissia, firefighters found the burned body of a 64-year-old woman in a factory building just after midnight.

The woman is believed to have been an employee who became trapped inside the area after evacuation orders were issued.

The fire department said more than a dozen people were treated by paramedics, mostly for smoke inhalation. Five firefighters suffered light burns and breathing problems.

What damage have the fires caused?

Local media reported as many as 100 homes suffering damage.

Sakis Morfis, 70, a Vrilissia resident, told the Reuters news agency that his house was “utterly destroyed”.

“Even the walls fell down. There is nothing left. There’s no morale, no courage, there’s no money anymore, everything was destroyed,” he said.

 

Are the wildfires under control yet?

The head of the association of Greek firefighter officers, Costas Tsigkas, told ERT state television that firefighters had made good progress during Monday night in extinguishing the fires.

“We are at a better level across the front,” Tsigkas said.

“But conditions again will not be easy. There will be winds from midday onwards … every hour that passes will be more difficult.”

The fire department said water-dropping planes and six helicopters took off again at first light on Tuesday.

Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Tuesday that there was no longer an “active front, only scattered hot spots”.

On Tuesday, authorities were racing to put out as much of the fire as possible before the afternoon’s weather predictions of temperatures of up to 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) and winds reaching up to 60-70km/h (37-43 mph).

What is the outlook for the rest of the week?

Meteorologists have warned that the danger of more wildfires is far from over, as intense weather conditions are predicted to continue until Thursday.

Minister Kikilias said on Saturday that “half of Greece will be in the red”, with temperatures of about 40C (104F) amid strong winds.

Reporting from Nea Makri, near Athens, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said the big concern at the moment is the “smaller fires” caused by tinder-dry wood being blown by the wind.

“There are these gusts of wind that are very difficult to get a steer on the direction because of the topography of this area.

“So the crisis is still far from over, although we’re not seeing the big blazes in this area, as we’ve seen in the last 24 hours. But the emergency services are very much on high alert and expecting pockets of fire to start in this area at any time,” Stratford said.

Is it safe to travel to Athens?

Greek authorities have not announced a state of emergency in Athens that could change travel safety warnings.

So far, no airlines have reported cancellations of planned flights to Greece.

Have other countries offered assistance?

Greece has called on the European Union to help its firefighting efforts.

The foreign ministry confirmed that France, Moldova, the Czech Republic, Romania, Malta, Italy, Turkey, Serbia, Cyprus and Poland have offered to help.

How have leaders and experts reacted?

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who had been on holiday when the fires broke out, returned to the capital on Sunday to address the deadly wildfire situation but has yet to comment on the outbreak.

Eleni Myrivili, global chief heat officer at UN-Habitat, told Al Jazeera that the Greek government should place more emphasis on prevention after authorities, for the first time, asked people to make sure their land was cleared of dried brush and leaves.

“There should be a much more engaged approach in managing the forests and the dry parts of forests. Looking into solutions from other countries that are starting to try, because this is a problem that a lot of different governments are dealing with. Australia has a lot of knowledge that we could look into.

“All of us need to get more engaged with our forests,” Myrivili said.