A fast-moving wildfire outside Athens, propelled by hot, windy weather had incinerated trees, houses and cars, sending smoke clouds over the Greek capital on Sunday and forcing residents to abandon their homes for safety.
Over 400 firefighters supported by 16 water-bombing planes and 13 helicopters had fought the blaze that broke out in the mid afternoon which quickly reached the village of Varnavas 35 km (20 miles) north of Athens.
As night fell, the flames turned the sky orange.
Hundreds of wildfires have broken out across Greece since May and experts have attributed their frequency and intensity to the alarmingly hot and dry weather conditions associated with climate change.
Fires have been raging this season amid the extreme heat in Europe, including in Spain and the Balkans.
Several other regions across Greece have been on high alert for fire risk on Sunday and Monday.
On Saturday, the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister, Vassilis Kikilias said he had called for emergency measures involving the army, police and volunteers to help control the forest fires until August 15.
What They’re Saying
Kostas Lagouvardos, a research director at the Athens Observatory had said;
“We are expecting a very difficult week. If the Varnavas blaze is not contained during the night, we will have a problem tomorrow.”
“Extremely high temperatures and dangerous weather conditions will prevail,” he finished.
