The great fire that has spread north-west of Athens continues to burn, engulfing vast tracts of pine forest for the third day, while the firefighters, assisted by air vehicles, are working to fight it. The fire in the Vilia area broke out on Monday shortly after the start of another fire southwest of Athens. Several villages and a nearby nursing home have received evacuation orders. Hundreds of wildfires spread across Greece this month, fueled by shrubs from the country’s worst heatwave in decades.
According to the general command of the Athens firefighters the situation would be particularly serious in the forests of Mount Patera, in particular in the areas of Paleochori and Oinoi, where the perimeter of the flames extends for kilometers and where a strong hot wind is expected that could worsen the situation. .
The country’s fire-fighting resources are at the end, leading the government to ask for international help, including through the European Union’s emergency response system. About twenty European and Middle Eastern countries responded, sending airplanes, helicopters, vehicles and hundreds of firefighters
The Elefsina-Thiva highway is closed to traffic, four villages, a monastery and retirement homes evacuated. It is estimated that between 80 and 90 thousand hectares of forest have been lost in the area. At the moment, 8 of the 24 Canadair and 12 helicopters are active, assisting the work of 300 firefighters, some of which came from Poland as part of a European support program