As an investigation into last month’s deadly wildfires on the outskirts of Attica deepens – with evidence pointing to shortcomings by rescue services and authorities but also the negligence of residents – Athens daily newspaper Kathimerini posted a video footage showing the moment the blaze broke out on the afternoon of July 23.
The footage was taken from a security camera at a home in the Daou area of Mount Pendeli. It shows a fire breaking out in a clearing between houses at 4.41 p.m. and quickly spreading over the following two to three minutes, fueled by strong winds. It also shows the first fire engines arriving at the scene more than half an hour after the blaze broke out.
The fire service was also trying to respond to a blaze in nearby Neos Voutzas and to another in Kineta, western Attica, that had broken out earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, as a judicial probe into the fires gathers pace, members of the police’s anti-arson unit have been inquiring into the cause of the fire, taking statements from residents of Daou whose houses faced the clearing where the fire broke out.
According to sources, several depositions point to a 65-year-old neighbor who allegedly burned wood outside his home on July 23 and is a person of interest in the probe.
[source: Kathimerini]