Latest news Cautious optimism about fires in Greece
Devastating fires north-east of Athens are keeping Greece on tenterhooks.
13.08.2024, 10:33
SDA
This morning, the fire department recovered the body of a woman who was unable to escape the flames from a burnt-down factory building, as reported by Greek media. It is the only fatality so far.
Several houses burned down and countless animals perished. And the authorities have not yet given the all-clear. It was only this morning that another evacuation order was issued, this time for a district of the coastal town of Nea Makri to the east of the capital.
Embers cause new fires
Nevertheless, the situation has improved considerably. A comparison of satellite images from the US space agency NASA shows the difference between Monday and Tuesday: while the fire front was initially a good 30 kilometers long and almost ten kilometers wide in places, there were only isolated fires in the morning.
However, the fire department reported that foci of fire continue to ignite. As a result, 17 aircraft and 18 helicopters as well as hundreds of firefighters are still being deployed to keep existing fires in check and extinguish new fires immediately.
The main danger is posed by so-called embers smouldering in the ground, which could develop into a new fire at any time. The wind, which had died down during the night, is also expected to pick up again. It was the stormy winds that fanned a small fire on Sunday into a huge blaze - in some places so quickly that people could only flee and had to leave their belongings behind.
One of Athens' last green lungs has burned
The power went out in many places and hundreds of wooden electricity pylons were burnt or toppled. According to initial estimates, a total area of 100 square kilometers was destroyed, including an area of forest that was considered one of the last "green lungs" of the metropolis of Athens.
Over the past two days, the air in the capital was heavily polluted with particulate matter due to the extreme smoke development - at times, more than 100 micrograms of the tiny particles per cubic meter of air were measured. The EU limit value is 25 micrograms.
The entire fire area is now being monitored by both the fire department and the police. Help from abroad is also already being deployed.
After the government requested assistance from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Serbia, Romania and Turkey, among others, sent fire-fighting aircraft, helicopters, fire-fighting teams and personnel.
