Dozens evacuated as forest fire rages near Athens
It comes on the heels of another fire on the island of Chios - Greece 's fifth-largest island - which as of Wednesday had destroyed more than 10,000 acres of land in four days. 'Ground and aerial forces are waging an enormous battle against the flames,' said fire service spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, adding that around 130 firefighters as well as volunteers were fighting the blaze, and around a dozen planes and helicopters had been deployed.
'This is a difficult fire fuelled by strong winds,' another fire service official told AFP. Kostas Tsiguas, president of the firefighters' union, said at least 50 people had been evacuated so far. Temperatures reached up to 40 degrees Celsius in the Athens region on Thursday, with forecasts indicating that the heatwave could continue until Saturday. In the past 24 hours, 45 fires had broken out in Greece, firefighters said.
'Residents told us the fire started because of a spark from a faulty electric cable,' he told national TV. Greece has become particularly vulnerable in recent years to fires in summer fuelled by strong winds, drought and high temperatures linked to climate change. Earlier this week, hundreds of firefighters backed up by aircraft were battling a wildfire burning out of control for the third day on the Greek island of Chios after authorities declared a state of emergency.
Towering walls of flames tore through forest and agricultural land on the island, where authorities have sent firefighting reinforcements from Athens, the northern city of Thessaloniki and the nearby island of Lesbos. By Tuesday morning, the fire department said 444 firefighters with 85 vehicles were tackling the blaze on scattered fronts. Eleven helicopters and two water-dropping planes were providing air support.
Emergency services have issued evacuation orders for villages and settlements in the area since Sunday, when fires broke out near the island's main town. Apocalyptic scenes captured in images and videos showed firefighters battling the flames as the wildfires raged on, while thick plumes of black smoke filled the sky. Other footage showed helicopters spraying water over smoke-filled fields.
The fire department has sent an arson investigation team to Chios to examine the cause of the blaze. 'We are faced with simultaneous fires in multiple, geographically unconnected parts of the island - a pattern that cannot be considered coincidental,' Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Giannis Kefalogiannis said Monday from Chios.
Authorities, he said, were 'very seriously examining the possibility of an organized criminal act, in other words arson.' The minister said police forces on the island had been reinforced, while military patrols had been doubled.
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