Residents flee as wildfire near Athens spreads rapidly

More than 400 firefighters, supported by 16 waterbombing planes and 13 helicopters, were deployed to battle the flames.

However, as night descended, aerial firefighting operations were suspended until morning, leaving ground crews to contend with the advancing inferno.

“The situation remains dangerous as the fire is spreading between residences,” warned fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.

He described the blaze as spreading “like lightning” due to gale-force winds, with flames reaching heights of 25 meters, consuming everything in their path.

A house burns in Varnava village. (AP photo)

The village of Varnavas, located 35 kilometers (20 miles) north of Athens, was particularly hard-hit. The area, home to about 1,800 residents, was quickly surrounded by the flames.

“The village was surrounded in no time. It’s really windy,” said resident Katerina Fylaktou. “It started from one point and suddenly the whole village was surrounded.”

Greece has been grappling with hundreds of wildfires since May, a situation exacerbated by increasingly hot and dry weather conditions linked to climate change.

The country experienced its warmest winter on record, followed by its hottest June and July, and is now on track for its hottest-ever summer.

Smoke, lighted by fire, rises near Varnava village . (AP photo)

“We are expecting a very difficult week,” said Kostas Lagouvardos, research director of the Athens Observatory. “If the Varnavas blaze is not contained during the night, we will have a problem tomorrow.”

As the fire raged on, authorities issued evacuation alerts for nine areas near Varnavas. Thick brown smoke from the blaze spread across much of Athens and even reached the island of Aegina to the south.

Meanwhile, another fire near the town of Megara, west of Athens, was contained by Sunday afternoon, according to the fire brigade.

Several regions across Greece remained on high alert for fire risk on Sunday and Monday.

Vassilis Kikilias, Greece’s Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister, announced emergency measures involving the army, police, and volunteers to combat the fires until August 15.

“Extremely high temperatures and dangerous weather conditions will prevail,” he said, adding that “half of Greece will be in the red.”

(With inputs from Reuters)