Greece: Firefighters battle deadly blaze near Athens – DW – 08/09/2025
More than 260 firefighters battled a wildfire near Greece's capital Athens on Saturday, as wind conditions raised alarms about the fire's potential to escalate.
The blaze, which has already left one person dead, broke out on Friday in Keratea, a rural area some 43 kilometers (27 miles) southeast of Athens. Two others died after being caught in the gale-force winds.
The wildfire, stoked by winds of up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour, destroyed several homes and farmlands in Keratea, setting olive orchards alight.
Footage published by local media showed gutted houses.
Local officials ordered the evacuation of several homes in the area and an elderly care center.
Police went door to door late on Friday night to ensure that the homes had been evacuated.
The remains of an elderly man were found in a burned-out structure near Keratea.
"The fire has weakened, but there are still active pockets," a fire department spokesman told AFP news agency on Saturday.
Several other wildfires were reported across Greece, including regions around the historical site of Ancient Olympia and on the tourist island of Kefalonia.
Winds of up to 74 kilometers (46 miles) an hour were forecast for Saturday, Greece's national weather service EMY said.
Strong coastal winds also caused the deaths of two Vietnamese tourists, who were on a cruise ship group visiting a lunar-like, volcanic rock beach on the Cycladic island of Milos.
The 61-year-old woman fell into the sea at Sarakiniko beach, and a 65-year-old man tried to rescue her, according to the Greek coastguard.
After ferry travel for tens of thousands of summer holidaymakers was disrupted by the severe weather, a temporary ban on ships leaving or arriving at Athens ports was lifted on Saturday.
In neighbouring Turkey, wildfires caused the Dardanelles Strait, a waterway linking the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara, to be shut temporarily in both directions.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from areas close to the blazes in the northwestern province of Canakkale.
Greece, Turkey other Mediterranean countries are known for hot and dry summers that scientists have dubbed "a wildfire hot spot."
The two neighbors have been enduring a summer heatwave, with temperatures in Athens recently hitting 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit). Much of the region around Athens has had barely a drop of rain in months.
Forecasters in Greece and Turkey say the risk of wildfire will remain high until October.
The fires have become more destructive in recent years due to climate change, scientists say, sparking calls for new ways of tackling the issue.
Authorities are under growing pressure to invest in artificial intelligence and satellite monitoring to spot fires before they spread.
There are also calls for Mediterranean nations to expand cross-border firefighting collaboration, including shared rapid response teams and water-dropping planes and helicopters.
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Int'l Business Times
21 hours ago
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Greeks Count Cost Of Wildfire 'Tragedy' Near Athens
In the municipality of Palaia Fokaia, an hour's drive south of Athens, a typical bucolic Greek landscape of olive groves and hamlets was transformed by a raging Friday wildfire into a dystopia of blackened land and incinerated homes. A howling wind ripped through the settlement on Saturday, spread dust and the bitter smell of ash coming from the surrounding hills, where fires and smouldering embers continued to burn. The ground shuddered as low-flying helicopters and water bombers weaved through the steep terrain to release water onto the remaining blazes and retrieve sea water. Hours earlier, over 200 firefighters had battled to keep the fire that erupted in the rural region of Keratea, some 43 kilometres (27 miles) southeast of Athens, from threatening the coastal resorts dotting the coast of Attica. At one gutted home -- its caved-in roof nothing more than a tangle of warped metal -- mask-wearing residents returned to retrieve whatever belongings survived the inferno. A despondent woman named Dimitria was more fortunate: the flames spared her home but razed the nearest forest, leaving it a desolate terrain of roasted trees and ash. "From yesterday night, there were very few reinforcements from the fire brigade," she lamented, describing how help arrived after the advancing fire threatened "many houses" near the forest. "My house is OK, but my forest is burned. And that is the pity," she said with a trembling voice, her eyes welling up as she left to survey the damage. Firefighters with hoses combed through a copse of trees to douse any embers and prevent reactivations, scorched twigs and debris crunching under their boots. Observing them from his unscathed house was a relieved Kostas Triadis. Despite the damage dealt to the landscape, he hailed the work of firemen and volunteers, "otherwise it would be very bad." "It is regenerated by itself, I hope it will be the natural future," the 75-year-old added, referring to the devastated vegetation. "It is a very good, small forest, we always knew it was dangerous." His wife Eleni, 71, added that "everybody did their utmost to save the area, but the real tragedy is that the forest is lost. It was very old." But she pointed to the many trees that were relatively unharmed because the fire burned itself out quickly in the short grass that residents had cut in June. "It's a tragedy, it's the first time the fire has come here," she said of the area, where the couple spend the summer months away from their Athens residence. A short distance away on the coast, the contrast could not be starker: beachgoers ambled on the sand and swam in the shimmering Mediterranean on a seemingly normal balmy summer morning. But the signs of the emergency were unmistakeable as beachside diners were greeted with the spectacle of water bombers skimming the water to refill and return to the raging fires. The fire erupted in the rural region of Keratea, some 43 kilometres (27 miles) southeast of Athens AFP Over 200 firefighters had battled to keep the fire from threatening the coastal resorts dotting the coast of Attica AFP
DW
a day ago
- DW
Greece: Firefighters battle deadly blaze near Athens – DW – 08/09/2025
Three people died as gale-force winds hit Greece, fanning the flames of a wildfire close to the capital. More strong winds are expected in the area, which could further exacerbate blazes in several regions. More than 260 firefighters battled a wildfire near Greece's capital Athens on Saturday, as wind conditions raised alarms about the fire's potential to escalate. The blaze, which has already left one person dead, broke out on Friday in Keratea, a rural area some 43 kilometers (27 miles) southeast of Athens. Two others died after being caught in the gale-force winds. The wildfire, stoked by winds of up to 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour, destroyed several homes and farmlands in Keratea, setting olive orchards alight. Footage published by local media showed gutted houses. Local officials ordered the evacuation of several homes in the area and an elderly care center. Police went door to door late on Friday night to ensure that the homes had been evacuated. The remains of an elderly man were found in a burned-out structure near Keratea. "The fire has weakened, but there are still active pockets," a fire department spokesman told AFP news agency on Saturday. Several other wildfires were reported across Greece, including regions around the historical site of Ancient Olympia and on the tourist island of Kefalonia. Winds of up to 74 kilometers (46 miles) an hour were forecast for Saturday, Greece's national weather service EMY said. Strong coastal winds also caused the deaths of two Vietnamese tourists, who were on a cruise ship group visiting a lunar-like, volcanic rock beach on the Cycladic island of Milos. The 61-year-old woman fell into the sea at Sarakiniko beach, and a 65-year-old man tried to rescue her, according to the Greek coastguard. After ferry travel for tens of thousands of summer holidaymakers was disrupted by the severe weather, a temporary ban on ships leaving or arriving at Athens ports was lifted on Saturday. In neighbouring Turkey, wildfires caused the Dardanelles Strait, a waterway linking the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara, to be shut temporarily in both directions. Hundreds of people were evacuated from areas close to the blazes in the northwestern province of Canakkale. Greece, Turkey other Mediterranean countries are known for hot and dry summers that scientists have dubbed "a wildfire hot spot." The two neighbors have been enduring a summer heatwave, with temperatures in Athens recently hitting 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit). Much of the region around Athens has had barely a drop of rain in months. Forecasters in Greece and Turkey say the risk of wildfire will remain high until October. The fires have become more destructive in recent years due to climate change, scientists say, sparking calls for new ways of tackling the issue. Authorities are under growing pressure to invest in artificial intelligence and satellite monitoring to spot fires before they spread. There are also calls for Mediterranean nations to expand cross-border firefighting collaboration, including shared rapid response teams and water-dropping planes and helicopters. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Int'l Business Times
2 days ago
- Int'l Business Times
Two Tourists Die, Fires Erupt In Greece Amid Gale-force Winds
Two Vietnamese tourists died at sea in Greece on Friday, the coastguard said, as gale-force winds confined many ferries to port, disrupting tens of thousands of summer travellers, and sparked wildfires. A coastguard spokeswoman said a man and woman had died at the Sarakiniko beach on the tourist island of Milos in the Cyclades, as firefighters battled blazes near Athens and on the island of Cephalonia. "The man and woman were found unconscious in the sea and were taken to the local health centre," the spokeswoman said. "They were Vietnamese tourists on a cruise ship group. The woman fell in the water and the man apparently tried to save her," she said. The civil protection ministry had said wind gusts would reach 88 kilometres (54 miles) an hour, especially in the southern Aegean and the Sea of Crete. More than 200 firefighters backed by 11 water bombers and seven helicopters were battling a fire in Keratea, southeast of Athens, Costas Tsigkas, head of the association of Greek firefighter officers, told ERT state television. "It's a difficult fire... (owing) to wind gusts," he said, adding that several communities had been evacuated. "The fire front is seven kilometres, homes are under threat," a local mayor, Dimitris Loukas, told ERT, adding that the wind was complicating efforts to douse the blaze from the air. The Cephalonia fire was earlier placed under control, local officials said. National weather service EMY said the winds would weaken after midnight. The coastguard said most ferries were unable to depart on schedule from Piraeus and other Athens ports, especially to the Cyclades or Dodecanese islands. Several services were cancelled and others postponed. At Piraeus, hundreds of people crowded outside a ferry that was bound for the Cycladic islands of Paros and Naxos, waiting for news on a possible departure. Nearby, stranded travellers surrounded by rucksacks and suitcases formed a huge queue outside a ticket office and made desperate phone calls hoping to make rearrangements to save their journeys. "There's huge lines, huge commotion, everyone's waiting in the sun and it's a very tough time," said Philip Elias, an American tourist. Sergi Gros, a 51-year-old civil servant from Spain, said he was scrambling to find last-minute accommodation in Athens for two nights, having already lost his booking on the island of Astypalea. "We arrived at 6:45 in the morning and they told us the ferry was cancelled," Gros told AFP, saying there was a "total lack of information". "I don't think (the hotel) can be refunded because it's not their fault. It's a great shame because we booked with a big (ferry) company, and there are people who reserve months in advance... they left us stranded," he said. Maritime connections with the Saronic islands near Athens including Aegina, Hydra, Poros and Spetses and the Ionian Sea were unaffected, the coastguard said. Strong winds are common in Greece at this time of year, and firefighters have already faced several major blazes this summer, including on the islands of Evia and Chios and in the western Peloponnese.
