Tourists traveling to Greece have been warned of extreme weather and wildfires as thousands of people were evacuated from areas near Athens. On Sunday, residents were forced to flee their homes as a fast-moving wildfire, driven by hot, windy conditions, swept through areas outside Athens, burning trees, houses, and cars, and sending smoke clouds over the Greek capital as Greece’s wildfires trigger widespread evacuations and warnings.
A children’s hospital was also evacuated, and emergency alerts continued to be issued on Monday morning. More than 400 firefighters, supported by 16 water-bombing planes and 13 helicopters, battled the blaze that broke out at 3 p.m. and quickly spread to the village of Varnavas, 35 km (20 miles) north of Athens.
As the Olympics wrapped up in Paris, the historic town of Marathon, 40 km east of Athens, was forced to evacuate. The town’s mayor, Stergios Tsirkas, described the situation as a “biblical catastrophe,” noting that the town, which inspired the name of the iconic long-distance race central to the Olympics, was engulfed in flames. “Our entire town is in flames and facing difficult times,” Tsirkas told Greece’s Skai television channel.
The town’s 7,000 residents are being relocated as the fire advances toward Athens, just over 40 km (25 miles) southeast. On Sunday night, firefighting aircraft were grounded until Monday, while emergency alerts continued to be issued throughout the night.
The area of Kallitechnoupoli was evacuated on Monday morning, an area close to the port town of Rafina where 104 people died from a wildfire in 2018.
Flames turned the sky orange and Athens was engulfed with smoke with many posting images to social media. Residents and tourists have been told to shut their windows in many areas as a heatwave continues to bake the city with temperatures of 37C forecast.
Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis returned to Athens on Sunday, cutting his holiday short. “The situation remains dangerous as the fire is spreading between residences,” fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.
He said the blaze spread fast, “like lightning”, due to gale-force winds. Flames as high as 25 meters swallowed up trees and shrubland. Firefighters from neighbouring countries have been sent to help. Varnavas is a sparely populated area with about 1,800 residents, according to the latest census.
Greece has formally requested assistance from the Republic of Cyprus in the form of human resources to aid in efforts to extinguish the fire, as reported. According to information from the CNA, Greece made this request recently, seeking support to enhance its firefighting. Under the direction of President Nikos Christodoulides and Minister of Justice and Public Order Marios Hartsiotis, all relevant agencies including the Fire Brigade, Civil Defense, Department of Forestry, and nursing personnel are coordinating to establish a mission that addresses transport needs and capabilities as expeditiously as possible, according to the same report.
After its warmest winter on record and long periods of little or no rainfall, Greece also registered its hottest June and July and is forecast to record its hottest-ever summer. “We are expecting a very difficult week,” said Kostas Lagouvardos, research director of the Athens Observatory. “If the Varnavas blaze is not contained during the night, we will have a problem tomorrow,” he said.
If the forestry services are not reconstituted, if a rescue programme and a broad social mobilisation for the guarding, guarding, protection and revival of the remaining forests is not planned by professionals and not by random people, if this planning is not annual, with permanent specialised personnel, who will open firebreaks in time, coordinate and supervise the shifts of volunteers and local communities, the clearing of dangerous areas, if modern technological solutions are not introduced everywhere, which many other countries are utilizing to prevent forest pollution and maximize social interest and constant control of the forest protection system if educational, informative programs are not created for the greatest threat along with water scarcity if international partnerships are not developed based on national interests and not the voluntary work (and jobs) of our political and business elite, then hurrah, we will continue to burn.
