A new fire broke out on Friday in a peri -urban area near Athens while the risk of fires elsewhere in Greece is “very high”, due to an expected increase in temperatures and strong winds.
In the middle of the day, a fire of unknown origin occurred in the town of Koropi, about 30 km east of the Greek capital, fueled by gusts.
He quickly spread through this area which includes many dwellings in the middle of dense vegetation and extends to the seaside of the Aegean Sea, in the Saronic Gulf.
Some 800 people have been evacuated, the firefighter spokesman Vassilios Vathrakoyannis announced.
The flames “quickly took dangerous proportions” under the effect of the wind, with multiple fire starts, he said.
The population had received alerts sent by civil protection on mobile phones.
And several roads on the periphery of Athens have been completed to traffic.
“In the decline”
The fire ravaged homes, olive trees and brush, we can see on images broadcast by the public television channel ERT.
However, at the end of the afternoon, the spokesman for the firefighters said that this disaster was now “in the decline”.
“Operations are continuing, mainly to master small homes,” he added during a press briefing.
In total, 120 firefighters were deployed on the spot supported by 30 vehicles, eight planes and eight helicopters, according to the spokesperson for firefighters.
The concern remains for the next few days, especially for Saturday, the 40 degrees Celsius in principle to be exceeded.
“The risk of fire is still very high for tomorrow,” said a head office manager for the firefighters with AFP on Friday.
Among the most threatened regions are the Attica (the region of Athens) which has more than four million inhabitants but also the north of the island of Ebée, further east, warned Greek civil protection.
In the past 24 hours, 47 fires of agricultural and forest vegetation declared themselves, the majority of which have been mastered, the firefighters said.
From this weekend, Greece should see temperatures reaching 41 ° C-42 ° C in certain regions, according to forecasts for EMY meteorology services.
In Koropi, “the fire arrived inside the courses of the houses,” said his mayor, Dimitris Kiousis, on Ert.
“All the inhabitants (threatened areas) have been evacuated,” said Thodoris Grivas, the deputy mayor of this locality, on the same television channel.
Fears
On the other hand, the fire that started on Wednesday in Crete on Wednesday and resulted in thousands of evacuations “was in regression” on Friday, assured the firefighters.
Started on Wednesday afternoon near the city of Irapetra, on the south-eastern coast of Crete-one of the main tourist and agricultural destinations on this southern island-fire was also carried there by significant winds.
Some 5,000 people, including 3,000 tourists, had been evacuated as a precaution Wednesday evening before being relocated in the north of the island.
Some 230 firefighters, 48 vehicles and six helicopters remained mobilized on the ground on Friday morning near Irapetra.
But the weakening of winds in this difficult to access region has improved the situation.
Another fire, which broke out 30 km east of Athens on Thursday, near the port of Rafina, was finally mastered in the evening after provoking the evacuation of around 300 people.
Already on June 26, a forest fire had reached several seaside localities close to the Greek capital, damaging dwellings and leading dozens of evacuations in a region popular with Greek and foreign tourists.
Greece has so far been spared by the heat wave which has struck part of Europe, in particular Spain, Portugal and France.
Located in south-eastern Europe, in the eastern Mediterranean, Greece is particularly vulnerable each summer with fires, powered by very strong winds, drought and high temperatures.
Some 45,000 hectares were burned last year. But 2023 remains the most destructive year in terms of burnt area with nearly 175,000 hectares who left for smoke and 20 dead.