PENTELIL: A massive wildfire blazed into Athens’ northeastern suburbs on Monday as hundreds of firefighters battled to contain it, forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes and sparking a Greek government appeal for international help.

In scenes never before seen in the Greek capital, residents wearing masks against the choking smoke were desperately dousing their homes with water hoses in the leafy suburbs of Nea Penteli and Vrilissia in an effort to render them less vulnerable to fire.

“(It’s) the first time ever the fire has come here,” said Melina Kritseli, 40, a civil servant living in a two-storey white house in Patima Halandriou, another Athens suburb that was evacuated.

“I took my children to a friend’s house to be safe,” she said as her husband hosed the ground and grass outside their house. Television footage showed several cars gutted by fire and the roofs of stately homes burning as water-bombing helicopters roared overhead. “The situation is dramatic,” Penteli mayor Natassa Kosmopoulou said.

Several towns on the path of blaze, including Marathon, evacuated

“A school and homes are on fire, and I can see the fire coming towards the town hall,” she said. The National Observatory, Greece’s foremost institute monitoring natural hazards, narrowly escaped. Greece on Monday formally called for EU assistance, a spokesman said.

“The EU civil protection mechanism was activated upon request of the Greek authorities,” EU spokesman Balazs Ujvari said in a statement, adding that Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Romania were sending units to help.

“We stand with Greece as it battles devastating fires,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Paris was sending 180 firefighters, 55 trucks and a helicopter to assist their hard-pressed Greek colleagues.

Help from Spain and Turkey is also being “finalised”, the Greek civil protection ministry said.

Strong winds

The wildfire started on Sunday afternoon in the town of Varnavas, some 35 kilometres northeast of Athens. Aided by strong winds, it grew to a 30-kilometre long frontline of flames, more than 25 metres (80 feet) high in places, according to state TV ERT.

“I heard my animals bleating and dying,” Dimitris Megagiannis, a goat herder near Penteli, told Mega TV station. Over 700 firefighters with nearly 200 fire engines and over 30 aircraft were trying to contain the fire.

Authorities opened the Olympic stadium in northern Athens and other stadiums to house thousands of people evacuated from the path of the blaze. Three major hospitals have been placed on standby.

One firefighter suffered serious burns, another was hospitalised with breathing trouble and 13 other people were treated for milder respiratory problems, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.

Several smaller communities and towns, including Marathon, which gave the Olympic long distance race its name, started to evacuate on Sunday. Smoke drifted through central Athens as thick grey clouds engulfed Mount Pentelikon, which is known for producing the marble used in the Acropolis and other ancient buildings.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2024