Athens wildfires: Greece forces thousands to evacuate as 'out of control' fires rage in areas near holiday hotspot
Tourists have been issued a warning as thousands of people have been evacuated from areas near Athens in Greece due to raging wildfires.
Residents fled their homes on Sunday (11 August) due to the fast-moving wildfire outside of Athens which has been fuelled by hot, windy weather. Emergency alerts have continued to be sent out this morning (Monday 12 August).
More than 400 firefighters accompanied by 16 waterbombing planes and 13 helicopters battled the blaze that broke out at 3pm yesterday. The blaze quickly reached the village of Varnavas 35 km (20 miles) north of Athens. The historic town of Marathon, 40km east of Athens, was forced to evacuate last night.
The area of Kallitechnoupoli was being evacuated this morning with flames turning the sky orange. Residents and tourists have been told to shut their windows in many areas as Athens is expected to experience temperatures up to 37C.
Fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said: “The situation remains dangerous as the fire is spreading between residences”. He added that the blaze spread fast, “like lightning”, due to gale force winds. Flames as high as 25 metres swallowed up trees and shrubland.
Resident Katerina Fylaktou told Reuters: “The village was surrounded in no time, in no time. It’s really windy. It started from one point and suddenly the whole village was surrounded”.
Several other regions across Greece were on high alert for fire risk on Sunday and Monday. On Saturday (10 August), Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said he had called for emergency measures involving the army, police and volunteers to deal with forest fires until August 15. After the warmest winter on record, Greece experienced its hottest June and July since reliable data collection began in 1960.