Greece Wildfires Burn More Than 12,600 Hectares in Western Attica as Firefighters Battle for Fourth Day
Greek firefighters continued battling for a fourth day a major wildfire that began in Viotia and spread to Western Attica, burning more than 12,600 hectares near Porto Germeno, Psatha and other areas, while five firefighters have died in the country’s recent fires. The Greece wildfires have drawn attention to the scale of destruction in the region.
Scale of the Current Wildfire in Western Attica
Greek firefighters on Monday battled for a fourth day a fire that started in Viotia, the southern part of Central Greece, and expanded to Western Attica. [2] The fire continues to burn in the Megara area, on the edge of the urban zone. [2] The situation is out of control as strong and erratic winds continue to fan the blaze. [3] The problem is worst in the mountainous area of Kandili and Agia Skepi, residential settlements in Western Attica, and south and southeast of the coastal villages of Psatha and Porto Germeno, where most firefighting forces have been concentrated. [2] Emergency messages were sent to civilians to evacuate their homes. [2] The Fire Service said forces remain very strong in the field and are operating along the entire perimeter to bring this particularly difficult fire under control as quickly as possible. [2] A total of 450 firefighters, 22 forest commando teams and 125 fire engines are battling the flames, while 12 helicopters, including two for aerial coordination and 11 aircraft, are assisting from the air. [2] Greek authorities said nine water-bombing aircraft and nine helicopters were supporting around 450 firefighters tackling three difficult fronts at Psatha, Kryo Pigadi and Kandyli, between 45 and 70 kilometres north-west of Athens. [5] The aircraft had previously been grounded by powerful winds, with gusts reaching between 80 and 130 kilometres per hour around Porto Germeno, a popular coastal resort that has been evacuated since Friday. [5] Further evacuations were ordered near Kandyli on Monday morning, while the fire risk in the Attica region surrounding Athens and neighbouring Boeotia remained at level four on a five-point scale. [5]
Greek firefighters battle a major wildfire spreading through Western Attica for a fourth day. — Source: balkaninsight
Firefighter Fatalities in Greece’s Recent Blazes
Fires throughout the country have killed five firefighters since last week. [3] So far, five firefighters have lost their lives battling the fires. [2] Two firefighters, a Greek and a Dane, lost their lives on August 2, when a Bell firefighting helicopter collided in mid-air with another helicopter while attempting to extinguish a forest fire that broke out in Psatha, a coastal area in Western Attica. [2] The pilot and co-pilot killed on Sunday were a Danish national and a Greek national. [5] They were flying one of two Bell helicopters that collided while trying to extinguish flames near Psatha. [5] The British pilot and Greek co-pilot aboard the second helicopter were injured and taken to hospital. [5] All Bell helicopters involved in the operation have been grounded while authorities investigate the collision. [5] The aircraft were leased from Australian company McDermott Aviation, which said it had supported Greek fire-fighting operations for seven years. [5] Two firefighters lost their lives in Krya Vrysi in Rethymno, Crete, on July 30, when they were surrounded by flames, and another firefighter lost his life while on duty in a fire that had broken out in Gytheio, in the Peloponnese. [2] Three firefighters were also killed in Greece last week. [5]
Cumulative Burned Area Since 2018
Six massive wildfires have destroyed more than 52,000 hectares of mostly forest land in western Attica since 2018, according to data from the European Union’s Copernicus and European Forest Fire Information System, and Greek authorities. [1] So far, the blaze that has ravaged Porto Germeno, Psatha and other areas west of Athens has destroyed at least 12,600 hectares. [1] In 2018, the Kinetta area lost 5,600 hectares, and in 2021 7,140 hectares were burnt in the Geraneia Mountains and 9,820 in the Villia region. [1] Mount Parnitha lost 6,100 hectares in 2023, the same year the Dervenochoria region further west had 11,600 hectares go up in smoke. [1] More than 12,000 hectares of forest, scrubland and farmland have burned across the country in the space of a week, according to media reports citing analysis from the European Union’s Copernicus programme. [5]
Immediate Response and Damage Assessment
Strong ground firefighting forces are operating in Western Attica, including on-site units, water tankers and military and local authority vehicles. [2] Aerial vehicles are continuously dropping water in hard-to-reach areas. [2] Water-bombing aircraft returned to the skies over Greece on Monday as firefighters battled several major blazes near Athens, a day after two pilots were killed when their fire-fighting helicopter collided with another aircraft. [5] “Our goal is to immediately … return the areas to normality as quickly as possible,” Deputy Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Kostas Katsafados said on Monday. [2] Katsafados said checks on the affected areas will begin immediately to record the damage to homes, businesses and public infrastructure, and to provide compensation to those affected. [2] Regarding compensation to farmers, the Agricultural Insurance Organisation will record the damage done to plant capital, while compensation for livestock farmers who have lost animals and assets will also be examined. [2] “The fight against the fires is uneven,” Greece’s Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Climate Crisis, Kostas Katsafados, told public broadcaster ERT. [5]
Greek firefighters battle a major wildfire for a fourth day in Western Attica. — Source: france24
Investigation Into Fire Origin and Regional Impact
Two electricity company employees have been arrested over the fire, which investigators believe may have been started by a spark from a power cable. [5] Several homes have been destroyed around Porto Germeno, where the population rises sharply during the summer as Athenians return to second homes. [5] “The ecological disaster is enormous; thousands of acres of forest and grasslands and especially areas that have been burned in the recent or distant past, all of this has been destroyed, unfortunately,” Panagiotis Margetis, Mayor of Megara, in Western Attica, said on Monday. [2] The fire has burned homes, livestock and farmland. [2]
Broader European Context of Increasing Fire Danger
House president Annita Demetriou on Monday expressed the Cyprus parliament’s solidarity with Greece as devastating wildfires continue to rage across several parts of the country. [4] In a letter to Greek parliament speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis, Demetriou conveyed the House of representatives’ “unwavering support and solidarity”. [4] She said she was deeply saddened and shocked by the scale of the destruction, as well as by the loss of life during firefighting operations. [4] “In these difficult times for Greece and the Greek people, I wish to express our unwavering support and solidarity, as well as our readiness to assist in every possible way in tackling the wildfires and their devastating, wide-ranging consequences,” she wrote. [4] Demetriou also said the climate emergency faced by Europe and the wider Mediterranean, is claiming lives and causing serious economic, social and environmental damage. [4] She stressed that it is the responsibility of all countries to demonstrate genuine solidarity and strengthen cooperation at both European and regional level to address not only the causes but also the consequences of rising temperatures, including the increasing frequency of destructive wildfires. [4] The emergency in Greece reflects a wider trend across southern Europe, where the number of summer days with extreme fire conditions has more than doubled since 1981. [5] A study by atmospheric scientists covering France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece found that such conditions rose from fewer than 10 days per summer between 1981 and 2010 to as many as 25 days between 2016 and 2025. [5] Researchers attributed the increase to climate change, as heat, strong winds, low humidity and dry vegetation allow fires to spread more rapidly. [5] Europe now records fewer wildfires than in the 1980s, thanks partly to better-trained crews and improved aerial resources, but the fires that do break out are often larger and more intense. [5] Scientists warn that successful fire suppression can also leave more dry vegetation to fuel future blazes, while wet winters encourage plant growth that can quickly dry out during summer heat. [5] “You cannot stop the propagation of fires when the weather conditions are very extreme,” said study co-author Raul Cordero. [5] “It’s not a matter of resources.” [5]
What to watch next: Authorities will continue checks to record damage and provide compensation while the fire risk in the Attica region remains at level four on a five-point scale.
