How serious are the forest fires near Athens, Greece? | Weather news

At least one person has died after one of Greece’s worst wildfires this year broke out on the outskirts of the capital, Athens, on Sunday. Authorities say the fires are now mostly under control, with just a few “scattered hot spots,” but could reignite later in the week.

In recent years, forest fires have become a common summer occurrence in Greece as climate change has caused intense heat waves and reduced rainfall in the Mediterranean country, creating ideal conditions for fires.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) and Greenpeace, 42,900 hectares (106,0000 acres) of land were burned by wildfires in Greece in 2023.

This number is almost double the area burned in 2022 and triple the amount in 2020.

Here’s what we know about the latest wildfire outbreak in Greece:

Where did the forest fires start?

Although the precise cause of the fires is unknown, the flames broke out on Sunday at 3pm local time (1200 GMT), following a period of hot, dry weather near Varnavas, 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the capital, Athens.

The fire spread to nearby pine forests, which were left dry by the intense heat.

The flames, which spread from the mountainous, wooded area to the suburbs on Monday, sparked panic among residents who had not seen a forest fire so close to the capital for decades.

Sakis Morfis told French news agency AFP, outside his home in Vrilissia, that “I never in a million years thought a fire would come here.”

“We have no clothes, no money, everything burned inside,” he said.

Affected areas typically have thousands of residents, but because the fire occurred at the height of the summer holiday season, it is unclear how many obeyed evacuation orders or remained.

The fire revived memories of the deadly July 2018 fires in Mati, a coastal town near Marathon, in which 104 people died. The tragedy was later attributed to delays and errors in the evacuation.

How did the authorities react?

More than 560 firefighters, supported by volunteers, 17 water bomber planes and 15 helicopters, began trying to extinguish the flames on Sunday.

However, the fire spread quickly and, on Monday morning, reached the village of Grammatiko, the ancient city of Marathon, the coastal municipality of Nea Makri and Mount Pentelicus, north of Athens.

By Monday afternoon, three hospitals, including a children’s hospital, two monasteries and an orphanage, had been evacuated, and at least 30 mobile alerts had been sent to residents of affected regions to warn them to flee fire-affected areas.

On Monday, Greek police said they had helped evacuate more than 250 people in affected areas.

How far have the fires spread since then?

The fire has already spread to neighborhoods on the outskirts of the capital and close to it and seriously affected the suburbs of Nea Penteli, Palaia Penteli, Patima Chalandri and Vrilissia.

Greece’s National Observatory said satellite images showed the fire damaged about 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of land.

Local newspaper Proto Thema also said the fire has damaged 100 homes so far.

Were there any victims or injuries?

In the suburb of Vrilissia, firefighters found the burned body of a 64-year-old woman in a factory building shortly after midnight.

The woman is believed to be an employee who became trapped in the area after evacuation orders were issued.

The fire department said more than a dozen people were treated by paramedics, mostly for smoke inhalation. Five firefighters suffered minor burns and respiratory problems.

What damage did the fires cause?

Local media reported that around 100 homes suffered damage.

Sakis Morfis, 70, resident of Vrilissia, told the Reuters news agency that his house was “completely destroyed”.

“Even the walls fell. There was nothing left. There is no morale, there is no courage, there is no more money, everything has been destroyed,” he said.

Are forest fires already under control?

The head of the Greek firefighters’ association, Costas Tsigkas, told state television ERT that firefighters made good progress overnight on Monday in putting out the fires.

“We are at a better level up front,” Tsigkas said.

“But conditions again will not be easy. There will be wind from noon onwards… every hour that passes will be more difficult.”

The fire department said water-dropping planes and six helicopters took off again at dawn on Tuesday.

The Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, said on Tuesday that there was no longer an “active front, just scattered hotspots”.

On Tuesday, authorities were racing to put out as much of the fire as possible ahead of afternoon weather forecasts of temperatures of up to 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) and winds reaching up to 60-70 km/h (37-43 mph). .

What are the prospects for the rest of the week?

Forecasters have warned that the danger of more bushfires is far from over as intense weather conditions are expected to continue until Thursday.

Minister Kikilias said on Saturday that “half of Greece will be in the red”, with temperatures of around 40ºC (104ºF) amid strong winds.

Reporting from Nea Makri, near Athens, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said the big concern at the moment is “small fires” caused by dry wood carried by the wind.

“There are these gusts of wind that make driving very difficult because of the topography of this area.

“So the crisis is still far from over, although we are not seeing major fires in this area as we have seen in the last 24 hours. But emergency services are on high alert and expect fires to break out in this area at any time,” Stratford said.

Is it safe to travel to Athens?

Greek authorities have not announced a state of emergency in Athens that could change travel safety warnings.

So far, no airlines have reported cancellations of planned flights to Greece.

Have other countries offered assistance?

Greece has called on the European Union to help with its firefighting efforts.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that France, Moldova, the Czech Republic, Romania, Malta, Italy, Turkey, Serbia, Cyprus and Poland have offered to help.

How did leaders and experts react?

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was on vacation when the fires broke out, returned to the capital on Sunday to address the deadly forest fire situation but has not yet commented on the outbreak.

Eleni Myrivili, global warming director at UN-Habitat, told Al Jazeera that the Greek government should put more emphasis on prevention after authorities for the first time asked people to make sure their land was clear of bushes and dry leaves.

“There should be a much more engaged approach to managing forests and dry parts of forests. Look for solutions from other countries that are starting to try, because this is a problem that many different governments are dealing with. Australia has a lot of knowledge that we could investigate.

“We all need to get more involved with our forests,” said Myrivili.