A powerful fire, fueled by hot weather and wind, has forced the residents of the village of Varnava near Athens to leave their homes. The smoke cloud could be clearly seen over the Greek capital.
More than 250 firefighters, 12 airplanes and seven helicopters are participating in the operation to contain the spread of the fire and extinguish it. The fire broke out at 3 p.m., according to Athens, and spread rapidly to the village of Varnava, about 35 kilometers north of Athens.
“The flames quickly surrounded the village. A furious wind is blowing,” resident Katerina Fylaktou told the Reuters news agency. “The fire started in one hearth and spread throughout the area.”
Authorities asked residents of five areas to evacuate. Thick smoke covered much of the Athens sky and reached the island of Aegina in the early evening.
Hundreds of fires have broken out across Greece during the summer, which marked the hottest June and July after the warmest winter. As elsewhere in the Mediterranean, scientists say the outbreak of fires is linked to increasingly hot and dry weather driven by climate change.
A European Commission report in April said the 2023 fire season in Europe was among the worst of the century. Just this month, fires spread across Greece, the Balkans and Spain amid extreme heat.
The spokesman of the Greek fire brigade, Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, said that the fire in the village of Varnava spread due to strong winds. Flames with a height of about 25 meters consumed houses, trees and bushes.
On Saturday, the Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, said he had called for emergency measures involving the army, police and volunteers to deal with the fires by August 15.
