A fast-spreading wildfire has torn through several neighborhoods on the northern part of Athens, Greek capital on Monday, prompting authorities to urge residents to evacuate their homes.
“Some 685 firefighters and 32 water-bombing aerial units have been deployed to extinguish the blaze that began Sunday near the town of Varnavas, north of Athens”, local authorities said.
“Emergency crews have been tackling “an extremely dangerous fire” for more than 20 hours, under “dramatic conditions” exacerbated by strong winds, prolonged drought and impenetrable terrain in dense, unburnt forest,” the climate crisis and civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias said.
“The blaze showed no sign of subsiding, with 40 flare-ups recorded since the early hours of Monday morning”, the fire services said.
Greek public broadcaster ERT estimates the forest fire exceeds 30 kilometers (about 19 miles).
Fire authorities warned Monday that the wildfire was raging towards Penteli, around 16 kilometers (about 10 miles) northeast of Athens, with “great momentum.”
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Kikilias warned over the weekend that “extremely high and dangerous weather conditions” would continue through Thursday.
“Since Sunday, health and emergency workers treated 13 citizens and two firefighters with burn and respiratory injuries”, fire services said.
“Three hospitals in the Attica region were on heightened alert. Two dozen children were evacuated from a hospital in Penteli”, according to the health minister, Adonis Georgiadis.
“Winds overnight remained strong creating dangerous conditions. Unfortunately, their intensity is expected to increase in the next few hours and the citizens of the areas where the fire is developing should in any case follow the instructions of the authorities,” fire service spokesman Vasilios Vathrakoyiannis said.
Last year, wildfires killed more than 20 people in the country, which has suffered repeated heatwaves this summer, as a result of a particularly dry winter.
June and July were the hottest months ever recorded in the country.
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