Athens: Forest fire forces thousands to evacuate

Greek authorities have urged people to evacuate five towns on the outskirts of Athens following a forest fire.

Hundreds of firefighters are fighting for the second consecutive day after forest fire caused by strong winds, which has reached the gates of Athenscapital of Greeceforcing authorities to evacuate dozens of people, including patients from two hospitals.

Following this event, seven hundred firefighters with fifty-eighty-three trucks, seventeen planes and fifteen helicopters, tankers, were operating in the area, in order to contain the flames, which spread over a front of about thirty kilometers; information that was detailed by the Minister of Civil Protection of GreeceVasilis Kikilias.

«This is an extremely dangerous fire, which we have been fighting for more than 20 hours in dramatic conditions.“, he indicated Kikilias.

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In light of this, he explained that the combination of strong winds, prolonged drought and “a difficult and inaccessible terrain morphology in a dense forest» make extinguishing tasks difficult. It should be noted that the fire started the day before near the town of Varnavaabout forty kilometers north of Athensspreading rapidly southwards during the night, reaching the vicinity of the town of Penteliwhich is located fifteen kilometers north of the capital.

«The winds are very strong and the morphology of the terrain and the vegetation, which are mainly pines and holly trees that burn quickly, are not helping us either.“said the Fire Department spokeswoman.

So far, it is known that one firefighter has been transferred to a nearby military hospital with second-degree burns on his hands and feet, while five citizens have been transferred to another hospital with respiratory problems.

Authorities also ordered the evacuation of ten towns south of the mountain. Penteliwhich joined the more than fifteen towns evacuated further north. It is estimated that more than thirty-five thousand people have had to leave their homes in the wake of the incident, although this number could be much higher since there are also many summer residences of Athenian citizens in this area.