Greek firefighters battle ‘dangerous’ wildfires over weekend

On Sunday evening, firefighters were battling wildfires near the Greek capital Athens as the country braces for a challenging wildfire season and soaring summer temperatures following its warmest winter and earliest heatwave on record.

“Today in Attica two extremely dangerous fires that broke out in residential areas and spread rapidly due to strong winds in Keratea and Stamata were tackled,” said Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias late on Sunday.

Authorities called for the evacuation of at least eight areas around Athens as wildfires destroyed houses and cars.

“Today is the hardest that the Fire Brigade has faced in this year’s firefighting season,” said fire department spokesperson Vasilis Vathrakogiannis during an emergency press briefing on Sunday.

Near the town of Keratea, south of Athens, and to the north, in the community of Stamata, wind speeds exceeding 60kmph (37mph) fanned the blazes.

“The situation is very difficult as strong winds continue to blow. They have not subsided and the outbreaks are many,” Dimitris Loukas, mayor of Lavreotiki, told Athens News Agency.

A fire also broke out on Sunday in a recycling factory in Ritsona, near the island of Evia, filling the sky with black smoke as tyres and mattresses in the grounds around it burned. Firefighters fought to contain the spread of the blaze to other factories in the industrial zone.

In his weekly Facebook post, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked Greeks to prepare for a tough wildfire season.

“The difficult times are still ahead of us,” he said. “Our effort is continuous. In this effort, our allies are new tools that build a new culture of prevention and responsibility.”