Residents flee as wildfire rages uncontrolled near Greek capital Athens

Authorities sent evacuation alerts for 5 nearby areas. By evening, thick smoke hung over Athens and reached island of Aegina to its south

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A house burns during a wildfire in Varnavas, north of Athens, Greece on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:22am, 12 Aug 2024Updated: 4:52am, 12 Aug 2024

Residents fled their homes in the village of Varnava near Athens on Sunday as fire crews struggled to contain a fast-moving wildfire fuelled by hot, windy weather that sent smoke clouds over the Greek capital.

More than 250 firefighters backed by 12 water-bombing planes and seven helicopters battled the blaze that broke out at 3 pm and quickly reached the village 35 km (20 miles) north of Athens.

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

The Parthenon temple on the Acropolis hill as smoke from a wildfire in the village of Varnava blankets Athens, Greece on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Authorities sent evacuation alerts for five nearby areas. By early evening, thick brown smoke hung over much of Athens and reached the island of Aegina to its south.

Authorities on Sunday also ordered the evacuation of the historic town of Marathon, 40 km (25 miles) east of Athens. The more than 30,000 habitants were ordered to evacuate towards the beach town of Nea Makri.

Hundreds of wildfires have broken out across Greece this summer, which has recorded its hottest June and July after its warmest winter. Like elsewhere in the Mediterranean, scientists have linked the fires to increasingly hot, dry weather driven by global climate change.

A European Commission report in April said the 2023 wildfire season in the Europe was among the worst this century. Just this month, fires burned amid extreme heat in Spain and the Balkans as well as Greece.

Greek fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said the Varnava blaze spread because of gale-force winds.