A major wildfire west of Athens breached containment lines on Monday as strong winds returned, forcing more than 1,000 people from Porto Germeno and nearby communities. The Associated Press reported that flames moved into clusters of mountain homes, damaged farms and property, and closed a highway while temperatures were expected to rise further during the week.
Greek authorities deployed 12 water-dropping planes and 11 helicopters after winds briefly eased. More than 250 evacuees were rescued by boat from beaches where fire and smoke had cut road access. Fire Service spokesman Yiannis Artopios described a difficult operation, while crews continued protecting the seaside resort and settlements around Mount Kithairon.
The renewed advance came one day after two firefighting helicopters collided in midair over the Psatha area. A Greek coordinator and a Danish pilot died, while a Greek and a British crew member survived and were hospitalized. AP said all four worked for private operators chartered by the Greek firefighting service; the fire itself was blamed on a faulty power line, and two contractors were arrested on negligent-arson charges.
The emergency extends beyond Greece. France allowed thousands of evacuees to return after containing a record 420-square-kilometer Gironde fire, though campsites stayed closed and 183 homes in Le Porge had been destroyed. A separate 18-square-kilometer Provence blaze remained uncontained with about 1,500 firefighters reinforcing lines, while a forest fire disrupted trains and prompted a campsite evacuation in the Netherlands.
Heat and drought are intensifying the regional risk. Provisional Met Office figures showed England and Wales had their driest July in nearly two centuries; all of Wales and more than half of England were officially in drought. The European Forest Fire Information System kept parts of the continent, including some normally cooler northern areas, at high wildfire risk through August 5.
Copernicus says Europe is the fastest-warming continent, warming by about 0.56 degrees Celsius per decade since the mid-1990s, more than twice the global rate. Higher temperatures and prolonged dry periods leave vegetation easier to ignite and allow fires to spread more quickly and intensely. Greek crews faced continuing danger around Athens as authorities monitored stronger winds, rising temperatures and the possibility of further evacuations.
Comments