Greece - Athens wildfires

Dozens of fires rage around Greek capital, thousands evacuated

Article published on the 2009-08-23 Latest update 2009-08-23 13:35 TU

Battling flames in Palini, a suburb of Athens, 23 August 2009
(Photo: John Kolesidis/Reuters)

Thousands of people were evacuated Sunday from areas around Athens as over 85 wildfires blazed across the country, fuelled by hot temperatures and gale-force winds. The government has declared a state of emergency around the capital as nearly 600 fire fighters battled flames that have engulfed about 12,000 hectares. Some of the fires are suspected to have been started by arsonists.

“We’re seeing panic-stricken residents fleeing from their homes,” said correspondent Helena Smith, who said the fires, which started late Friday, remind people of blazes that engulfed the country in the summer of 2007 and killed 77 people.

The fire started in Grammatiko, a rural area about 40 kilometres northeast of the capital. It has spread to many of the city’s residential suburbs.

“Municipal officials are saying that more than 10,000 residents of these outlying suburbs have been evacuated from their homes,” she said. Two children’s hospitals, a summer camp and a retirement home are also threatened by the blazes.

“We have a clearly panicked government because coordination amongst the fire fighting authorities is pretty poor,” she said, adding that fire fighters are being hampered by strong winds that are not only fanning the flames, but also constantly changing the fires’ direction.

Many of the blazes were sparked by natural causes: hot temperatures and high winds combined with litter in the forest around the city. But many were deliberately set, reported Smith, by “arsonists bent on clearing land to allow developer to move in and build on it.”

“It’s indicative that a lot of the real estate that has gone up in state in the last 72 hours here in Greece is prime forest land, prime real estate, and would be terribly expensive once constructed on,” she added.