People have been ordered to flee as flames begin to consume towns around Athens.
Towns and villages around Athens are being evacuated as wildfires threaten to consume communities around the Greek capital.
Authorities on Monday ordered the evacuation of hospitals, a monastery and more than a dozen other areas as a massive fire approached. The blaze, which hundreds of firefighters are battling, is just the latest in a summer in which Greece is roasting in record temperatures.
The fire was burning on two separate fronts with some parts in particularly hard-to-reach areas on a mountain northeast of Athens, Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said.
“Despite the tough battle and superhuman efforts during the night, the fire spread very fast and reached Mount Penteli,” a fire brigade official told Reuters news agency.
Authorities are facing “an exceptionally dangerous fire, which we have been fighting for more than 20 hours in dramatic circumstances,” Kikilias said. The conditions were aggravated by strong winds.
A children's hospital, a military hospital, two monasteries and a children's home were evacuated early on Monday, while evacuation orders were issued for more than a dozen areas and several suburbs of Athens. Three Athens hospitals were put on high alert to treat possible injuries.
Police assisted with evacuations and some residents spent the night in shelters. Local media reported that two firefighters were slightly injured and several civilians were treated for smoke inhalation.
The fire department said 670 firefighters, backed by 27 teams trained to fight wildfires, including more than 80 members of the armed forces, were battling the blaze. More than 180 vehicles were deployed and more than 30 water-dropping planes and helicopters were providing air support.
The blaze, which reached a height of 25 metres, spread “like lightning” due to strong winds, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said on Sunday.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis rushed back to Athens from the island of Crete to oversee response efforts, a government official said.
Authorities are working to avoid a tragedy like the one in 2018, when a fire killed 104 people in the coastal town of Mati, near the capital.
Increasingly warmer and drier weather linked to climate change has led to more frequent and intense wildfires across Europe, scientists say.
This year, June and July were the hottest months on record in Greece, which also recorded its warmest winter on record. Fires have raged throughout the country throughout the summer.
“Half of Greece will be in the red,” Kikilias said over the weekend, warning of temperatures of around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
