A violent forest fire devastated several seaside towns east of Athens on Thursday, damaging homes and prompting dozens of evacuations in a popular destination for Greek and foreign tourists.
The fire broke around 12:30 pm (0930 GMT) near the towns of Palaia Fokaia and Thymari, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Athens, and forced the evacuation of five villages, according to Greek firefighters.
It comes on the heels of another fire on the island of Chios — Greece’s fifth-largest island — which as of Wednesday had destroyed more than 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of land in four days.
“Ground and aerial forces are waging an enormous battle against the flames,” said fire service spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, adding that around 130 firefighters as well as volunteers were fighting the blaze, and around a dozen planes and helicopters had been deployed.
“This is a difficult fire fuelled by strong winds,” another fire service official told AFP.
Kostas Tsiguas, president of the firefighters’ union, said at least 50 people had been evacuated so far.
Temperatures reached up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in the Athens region on Thursday, with forecasts indicating that the heatwave could continue until Saturday.
In the past 24 hours, 45 fires had broken out in Greece, firefighters said.
In Athens, police closed off the main coastal avenue that connects the capital to Cape Sounion, near the fire area.
The region is popular among foreigners and Greek tourists, with many Athenians owning secondary homes or vacationing in the area.
The deputy mayor of Palaia Fokaia, Stavros Petropoulos, described the situation as “dramatic”.
“Residents told us the fire started because of a spark from a faulty electric cable,” he told national TV.
Greece has become particularly vulnerable in recent years to fires in summer fuelled by strong winds, drought and high temperatures linked to climate change.
Source: AFP
