Greece tackles last of wildfire near Athens, assesses damage

A firefighter tries to extinguish the flames at a business during a fire in northern Athens, Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, as hundreds of firefighters tackle a major wildfire raging out of control on fringes of Greek capital. (AP)

• Government inspectors were assessing damaged buildings and state infrastructure on Wednesday
• Some fire-stricken residents returned to their scorched properties, hoping to find some belongings amidst the debris

ATHENS: Firefighters battled on Wednesday to extinguish the remnants of a wildfire near Athens that killed a woman, torched buildings, devoured woodland and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
Most of the fronts had eased three days after the inferno had first taken hold, but officials warned against complacency as firefighters were still battling sporadic flare-ups.
“It is a vast area and forces are trying to ensure day and night that there won’t be any rekindlings,” Nikos Lavranos, head of the Greek federation of fire service employees, told Reuters.
Government inspectors were assessing damaged buildings and state infrastructure on Wednesday. Some fire-stricken residents returned to their scorched properties, hoping to find some belongings amidst the debris, while others were trying to overcome the shock.
State TV ERT said that some fire-stricken areas were still suffering from power cuts.
“The fire started very far from here... and in no time it burned everything,” said 78-year old Giannis Tsiminis as he took stock of the damage he had suffered.
“All the air condition units are burned, as well as the window shades, the insect screens and the window glasses are broken. And a big power generator that I had, it also burned.” .
Hundreds of firefighters assisted by dozens of aircraft have been tackling the blaze since Sunday as it barrelled from a forest off the town of Varnavas, 35 km (22 miles) from the capital, into Athens’ northern suburbs.
Greece’s National Observatory said the fire had damaged around 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of land. The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined.
Greece is on high fire alert until Thursday, with temperatures forecast to hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) raising concern about possible flare ups. Winds are also expected to pick up on Thursday.
Wildfires have been a common feature of Greek summers for years, but climate change has brought hotter weather and less rain, heightening the risk.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the military airport of Elefsina to thank firefighing aircraft pilots.
“This is an effort we all make during a great climate cris is,” he said. “We must constantly improve.”
Mitsotakis also said that Greece would need to wait another three years before the arrival of seven firefighting aircraft it has purchased from Canada.
The conservative government, which has announced compensation and relief measures for those impacted by the disaster, has been criticized by opposition parties over the current number of firefighters and the aircraft it deployed for the latest blaze.
The country, which has recently tightened penalties for arson, has dealt with over 3,500 fires since May, a nearly 50 percent increase from the same period in 2023 when it recorded 2,300 blazes, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said.
Sunday’s fire broke rapidly across several fronts reaching within hours the seaside area of Nea Makri and areas around the historic town of Marathon.
By Tuesday, it had reached suburbs on the slopes of Mount of Penteli, which is considered one of Athens’ last green lungs.
A woman was found dead inside a burned business in the suburb of Vrilissia, about 10 km from central Athens, on Monday.
Some experts said the fire had managed to spread so fast because of a phenomenon called spotting, where wind whirls transfer burning matter across long distances. That led to the constant creation of new fronts which later merged.
“That is more evident in recent years. Conditions have changed and it’s becoming more usual,” Lavranos said.