Greece wildfire contained but strong winds prompt evacuations
At least one person died and homes and farmlands were destroyed on Friday as wildfires stoked by gale-force winds broke out across Greece, from near the capital to regions around the historical site of Ancient Olympia.
The worst blaze broke out in the small town of Keratea, southwest of the capital, where firefighters discovered the body of an elderly man in a burned-out structure. A fire brigade spokesperson said on Saturday the fire there was under control but not out.
Greece and other Mediterranean countries are in an area dubbed "a wildfire hot spot" by scientists, with blazes common during hot and dry summers. These have become more destructive in recent years due to a fast-changing climate, prompting calls for a new approach.
Much of the region around Athens has had barely a drop of rain in months.
Wind gusts of up to 80 kph (50 mph) fanned the flames around Keratea on Friday, setting olive orchards alight. Homes were engulfed as locals wearing flimsy face masks assisted firefighters. Police went door to door late at night making sure that homes had been evacuated.
Much of the area smouldered on Saturday morning, and images on local media showed houses gutted by fire.
Other blazes in the region of Ancient Olympia and on the touristy island of Kefalonia appeared to have abated also.
(Reporting by Edward McAllister, Michele Kambas and Vania Turner; Editing by William Mallard)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Wildfires fanned by heatwave and strong winds rage across Europe, burning houses and factories
PATRAS, Greece,/MADRID (Reuters) -Wildfires caused by arsonists or thunderstorms and fanned by a heatwave and strong winds continued to rage across southern Europe on Wednesday, burning houses, farms and factories and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists. Flames and dark smoke billowed over a cement factory that was set alight by a wildfire that swept through olive groves and forests and disrupted rail traffic on the outskirts of the Greek city of Patras, in the northern Peloponnese west of Athens. "What does it look like? It looks like doomsday. May God help us and help the people here,' said Giorgos Karvanis, a volunteer who had come from Athens to Patras to help. Authorities ordered residents of a town of about 7,700 people near Patras to evacuate on Tuesday and issued new alerts on Wednesday, advising residents of two nearby villages to leave their homes. On the Greek islands of Chios, in the east, and Cephalonia, in the west, both popular with tourists, authorities told people to move to safety as fires spread. In Spain, a volunteer firefighter died from severe burns and several people were hospitalised as state weather agency AEMET warned that almost all of the country was at extreme or very high risk of fire. The 35-year-old man had been attempting to create firebreaks near the town of Nogarejas, in the central Castile and Leon region, when he was trapped in the blaze, regional officials said. He was the sixth person to die this year in wildfires in Spain. Other victims include two firefighters in Tarragona and Avila, according to emergency services. Working in unprepared landscapes puts firefighters lives at risk, said said Alexander Held, a senior expert in fire management at the European Forest Institute. Authorities needed to make more effort to anticipate and prevent wildfires by creating buffer zones and clearing combustible vegetation, he said. "Take an industrial building and imagine there would be no fire detectors, no sprinkler systems, no fire protection doors and no escape routes – firefighters would just refuse to go in, but in our landscape we expect them to do this," Held said. The leader of the Galicia region in the northwest, Alfonso Rueda, called the situation there "complicated" and said the weather was not helping. Six active fires were affecting a combined 10,000 hectares (38 square miles) in Galicia's Ourense province. SUSPECTED ARSON Spanish Environment Minister Sara Aagesen told SER radio station that many fires across the country were suspected to be intentionally caused by arsonists due to their "virulence". A male firefighter was arrested on Tuesday for fires started in the Avila area north of Madrid two weeks ago, while police said late on Tuesday they were investigating a 63-year-old woman for allegedly starting a series of fires in Galicia's Muxia area in August. Police have also identified a suspect who is believed to have suffered burns to his hands after starting a small fire in a beachfront development in the southern coastal Cadiz area, Europa Press reported. Thunderstorms have caused other fires. On Tuesday, shortly after 5 p.m., Andalucia's fire department was flooded with calls by residents alerting of a fire caused by a lightning strike on a chestnut and oak forest in Los Romeros, north of the city of Huelva. The fire prompted the evacuation of around 250 residents but was largely controlled by Wednesday morning. A blaze in Trancoso in Portugal that has been burning since Saturday took a turn for the worse during the night as a lightning reignited an area that was thought safe, the civil protection service said. In Albania, Defence Minister Pirro Vengu said it was a "critical week", with several major wildfires burning across the country. Some 10,000 firefighters, soldiers and police emergency units struggled with a total of 24 wildfires across the country on Wednesday, the defence ministry said. Flames reached homes in two villages in the centre of the country, forcing villagers to flee, taking their livestock with them. "We are going in the middle of two rivers because the fire has arrived," said Hajri Dragoti, 68, from Narte, who fled with his wife taking a cow, a donkey and a dog. "We can't do anything, it is like gun powder." Spain was in its 10th day of a heatwave that peaked on Tuesday with temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), and which AEMET expected to last until Monday, making it one of the longest on record. Pope Leo moved his weekly audience from St. Peter's Square to an indoor venue in the Vatican, "to stay a little bit out of the sun and the extreme heat" as Italy's health ministry issued extreme heat warnings for 16 cities on Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to peak at 39C (102F) in Florence. (Reporting by Louiza Vradi, David Latona, Aislinn Laing, Ivana Sekularac, Andrei Khalip and Gavin Jones; Writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Alex Richardson)
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Wildfires scorch Greece for a second day, thousands evacuated
A firefighter works to extinguish a fire from an building during a wildfire, in Sichaina near Patras, Greece, August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi PATRAS, Greece (Reuters) -Firefighters battled multiple wildfires across Greece on Wednesday, including blazes threatening villages and towns near the western city of Patras and on two tourist islands. Fires have burned houses, farms and factories and prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists since Tuesday. Dozens of people have been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation since Tuesday, public broadcaster ERT reported. Some 13 firefighters have been treated for burns and other injuries, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told a televised briefing on Wednesday. Nearly 5,000 firefighters assisted by 33 aircraft were deployed from dawn to contain the flames stoked by winds and hot, dry conditions near Patras, on the tourist islands of Chios and Zakynthos and in at least three inland spots. "Today, it will be another very difficult day, as the wildfire risk for most of the country's regions will be very high," Vathrakogiannis said. Temperatures were forecast to reach 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 Fahrenheit) in some places. Flames and dark smoke billowed over a cement factory that was set alight by a wildfire that swept through olive groves and forests and disrupted rail traffic near Patras on Wednesday. "What it looks like? It looks like doomsday. We came from Athens with our volunteer association Kleisthenis, we can't do anything more. May God help us and help people here,' said volunteer firefighter Giorgos Karavanis, who was working on the fire near Patras. Authorities ordered residents of a town of about 7,700people near Patras to evacuate on Tuesday and issued new alerts on Wednesday, advising residents of two nearby villages to leave their homes. On the island of Chios, the coast guard used boats to take people to safety on Tuesday as flames reached the shores. Spain, Portugal, Turkey and the Balkans have also battled wildfires in recent days as a heatwave pushed temperatures over 40 C (104 F) across parts of Europe. In Albania and Montenegro, wildfires havedestroyed houses and possessions since last week. (Reporting by Louiza Vradi in Patras and Angeliki Koutantou in AthensAdditional reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in BelgradeEditing by Frances Kerry)
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Volunteer firefighter dies as wildfires rage across heat-stricken Spain
An aircraft makes a water drop over an area burned by a wildfire in the Atlanterra area in Tarifa, Spain, August 12, 2025. REUTERS/Marcelo Del Pozo MADRID (Reuters) -A firefighting volunteer died from severe burns, while several people were hospitalised as dozens of wildfires fuelled by strong winds and scorching heat continued to rage across Spain on Wednesday. At least six large wildfires were still out of control on Wednesday, according to regional emergency services. The victim, a 35-year old volunteer, had been attempting to create firebreaks near the town of Nogarejas, in the north-central Castile and Leon region, when he became trapped in the blaze, regional officials said. The fire had two active fronts that were still out of control, as weather services forecast another day of strong winds and electric storms. Over 5,000 people have been evacuated in the region, which is Spain's largest, and efforts were being concentrated on preventing the flames from reaching smaller towns. Environment Minister Sara Aagesen told SER radio station that many fires across the country were suspected to be intentionally caused by arsonists due to their "virulence", but that it was too early to quantify these. On Monday, another fire had killed a man working at a horse stable on the outskirts of the Spanish capital Madrid and reached some houses and farms before it was contained. Northwestern Galicia's regional leader Alfonso Rueda said the situation there was "complicated" and that the weather "isn't helping", as six active fires affected a combined 10,000 hectares in Ourense province. Weather agency AEMET forecast "extreme" risk of wildfires across Spain on Wednesday. (Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Rachna Uppal)
