By Angelos Tsatsis and Karolina Tagaris
VARNAVA/ATHENS (Reuters) -Residents fled their properties within the village of Varnava close to Athens on Sunday as hearth crews struggled to include a fast-moving wildfire fuelled by scorching, windy climate that despatched smoke clouds over the Greek capital.
Greater than 250 firefighters backed by 12 water-bombing planes and 7 helicopters battled the blaze that broke out at 3 p.m and shortly reached the village 35 km (20 miles) north of Athens.
“The village was surrounded in no time, in no time. It’s really windy,” resident Katerina Fylaktou informed Reuters. “It started from one point and suddenly the whole village was surrounded,” she mentioned.
Authorities despatched evacuation alerts for 5 close by areas. By early night, thick brown smoke hung over a lot of Athens and reached the island of Aegina to its south.
A whole lot of wildfires have damaged out throughout Greece this summer season, which has recorded its hottest June and July after its warmest winter. Like elsewhere within the Mediterranean, scientists have linked the fires to more and more scorching, dry climate pushed by world local weather change.
A European Fee report in April mentioned the 2023 wildfire season within the Europe was among the many worst this century. Simply this month, fires burned amid excessive warmth in Spain and the Balkans in addition to Greece.
Greek hearth brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis mentioned the Varnava blaze unfold on account of gale power winds.
Flames as excessive as 25 metres swallowed up bushes and shrubland.
One other blaze in a forested space close to the city of Megara, west of Athens, had been contained by Sunday afternoon, the fireplace brigade mentioned.
A number of different areas throughout Greece had been on excessive alert for hearth danger on Sunday and Monday.
“We are expecting a very difficult week,” mentioned Kostas Lagouvardos, analysis director of the Athens Observatory. “If the Varnava blaze is not contained during the night, we will have a problem tomorrow,” he mentioned.
Fireplace-fighting plane stop operations at nightfall.
On Saturday, Local weather Disaster and Civil Safety Minister Vassilis Kikilias mentioned he had referred to as for emergency measures involving the military, police and volunteers to cope with forest fires till Aug. 15.
“Extremely high temperatures and dangerous weather conditions will prevail,” he mentioned.
“Half of Greece will be in the red.”
In June and July, above-normal temperatures had been registered on 57 out of 61 days, Lagouvardos mentioned. Greece is forecast to report its hottest ever summer season.
