“Extremely difficult days”: fires rage in the nearby tourist country

Hundreds of firefighters are currently fighting a stubborn containment battle against what the experts are already calling a “mega-fire” that is raging west of Athens, the capital of Greece. Under the auspices of powerful and unexpected winds that reached a speed of more than 100 km/h, the flames have already consumed over 100 thousand dunams of forests and vegetation in the regions of Boeotia and Western Attica, destroying dozens of residences and forcing the authorities to order a dramatic and urgent evacuation of residents and industrial areas.

The central fire front, which started on Friday in the area of Agios Vasilios, advanced rapidly towards the coastal town of Porto Germano and from there raced south towards the town of Megara. The emergency and civil defense services issued immediate evacuation orders for the industrial area of Megara and a whole series of localities in the area, including Kandili, Agia Skapi, Totoli, Nea Dafni, Pepkanas and Agios Serantis. The fight against the flames almost ended in an even heavier disaster, when two “Bell” firefighting helicopters collided in the air during an attempt to drop water in the area, due to severe air turbulence. Large rescue and rescue forces were immediately launched to the scene.

About 500 firefighters equipped with 134 fire trucks are now working in the field, reinforced by special teams that arrived from France and Romania. However, the air fleet encountered tremendous difficulties: the strong gusts of wind prevented amphibious aircraft from landing and pumping water from the stormy sea. The flames even reached the settlement of Vaniza and a nearby military fire ground, where the extreme heat caused ammunition to explode. At the same time, angry and worried residents, armed with pipes and improvised tools, took to the streets to try and save their homes.

Fire service investigators launched an expedited investigation, and the initial findings led to immediate arrests. Two people, the project’s electrical engineer and the person responsible for installing the cables, were arrested and face serious criminal charges of negligent arson. Video documents and findings from the field reveal that the fire ignited as a result of sparks from electrical cables of a private wind farm in the Boeotia area, which is connected to the national grid. The police are now working to arrest the owner of the wind farm as well.

The Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, addressed the public and honestly admitted: “We are in extremely difficult times. We have invested more than ever in strengthening civil defense, but there are moments when the power of the weather and nature simply outweighs any human planning and operational ability.” Mitsotakis promised full state aid to the victims and made it clear that the top priority remains saving human lives. At the same time, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis toured the medical centers in the region and assured that the health system is prepared for any scenario.

But the drama in Greece really does not stop on the continent. The wave of fires also hit the popular tourist islands with force, flooding the surface with the cost of the tourist load and the collapsing infrastructure. On the island of Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea, a huge fire in the area of Pastra led to the distribution of emergency evacuation notices during the night to about ten settlements, including Marcopolo, Catlios and Barata. Dozens of firefighters, special units and forces arriving by ferry fought to prevent the fire from consuming hotels and hospitality complexes. This is after last week there was a tragedy on the island of Crete, where three firefighters were killed and 8,000 people were evacuated from their homes.

Another environmental and political storm was registered on the island of Paros in the Cycladic archipelago. A fire that broke out at an overflowing municipal waste site consumed about 10,000 dunams, and led to the dramatic arrest of the mayor, Costas Bizas, along with his deputy. The arrest was made on suspicion of gross negligence in the handling of huge piles of flammable waste, trimmings and recycling materials that were piled up without supervision. Local officials blame that the huge increase in the number of tourists arriving on the island, which far exceeds the capacity of the infrastructure, is what led to the collapse of the garbage system and the danger to life.

The meteorological service estimates that the strength of the winds in the Aegean region will weaken slightly in the coming hours to a strength of 5 to 6 on the Beaufort scale. However, the fire risk level remains at level 4 and 5 (the highest) in the Athens area, the island of Evia and the Aegean islands, and emergency forces are preparing for another tense night on the fire line.