Residents fled their homes on Sunday (August 11) as a rapidly spreading forest fire outside Athens, fanned by hot, windy weather, destroyed trees, homes and cars and sent plumes of smoke across the Greek capital.

More than 400 firefighters, supported by 16 fire-fighting planes and 13 helicopters, battled the blaze that broke out at 3:00 p.m. (midday GMT) and quickly reached the village of Varnavas, 35 km (22 miles) north of Athens.

As night fell, the firefighting planes ceased their activities until morning. Flames colored the sky orange.

“The situation remains dangerous as the fire is spreading between houses,” said fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.

He said the fire spread quickly, “like lightning,” in gale-force winds, with flames reaching 25 metres (80 feet) high engulfing trees and brush.

According to the latest census, Varnavas is a sparsely populated area with about 1,800 inhabitants.

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

Since May, hundreds of forest fires have broken out in Greece. Scientists believe the frequency and intensity of the fires are due to increasingly hot and dry weather conditions linked to climate change.

After the warmest winter on record and long periods with little to no rainfall, Greece also experienced its warmest June and July. The country is expected to experience its warmest summer on record.

“We expect a very difficult week,” said Kostas Lagouvardos, director of research at the Athens Observatory. “If the Varnavas fire is not under control during the night, we will have a problem tomorrow,” he said.

Fires also raged elsewhere in Europe this summer, including Spain and the Balkans, due to the extreme heat.

‘Dangerous conditions’

Authorities issued evacuation warnings for nine areas near Varnavas. By early evening, thick brown smoke had covered much of Athens and had reached the island of Aegina in the south.

Another fire in a forest area near the town of Megara, west of Athens, was under control on Sunday afternoon, firefighters said.

Several other regions in Greece were on heightened alert on Sunday and Monday due to the risk of fire.

On Saturday, Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said he had called for emergency measures involving the army, police and volunteers to fight the forest fires until August 15.

“There will be extremely high temperatures and dangerous weather conditions,” he said.

“Half of Greece will be in the red.”

In April, a report from the European Commission said that the 2023 forest fire season in Europe would be among the worst this century.

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