Thousands fled north of their homes Athens After the wildfire spread to residential areas. The hurried evacuation comes as Greece is struggling to cope with the worst heat wave in decades.
The fire produced huge smoke over Athens and prompted multiple evacuations near Tatoy, 13 miles to the north. Residents left their homes on cars and motorcycles and headed to the capital in the smoky smoky atmosphere.
“This is a big fire and a lot of work needs to be done to contain it,” George Patoulis, the governor of the Greater Athens region, told the state-run ERT television station. “The foliage in these areas is very dense, and the conditions are difficult due to the very dry heat waves.”
When the flames approached their homes, people saw residents running towards their cars, their faces covered with damp cloth to protect them from heavy smoke. A group of people stopped to help the staff of a riding school push their horses into a truck to escape the flames.
As the heat wave in the Eastern Mediterranean intensified, temperatures in parts of the Greek capital reached 42 degrees Celsius.The authorities say the temperature is the worst this year Greece Since 1987.
Extreme weather Fueled deadly wildfires in Turkey and fires in Italy, Greece, and AlbaniaAuthorities said that wildfires are also raging in other parts of Greece, prompting the evacuation of people from the southern coast of the Peloponnese and the islands of Evia and Kos.
The fire prompted Greek basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo to cancel a planned celebration in Athens for his recent NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks. “We hope that these fires have no victims, of course we will postpone [sic] Today’s celebration,” he wrote in a tweet.
Earlier, the authorities closed down ancient sites including the Acropolis in the afternoon. The website is usually open from 8 am to 8 pm during the summer. The opening hours will be shortened this Friday and closed from noon to 5 pm.
Five water jets and five helicopters participated in the fire fighting near Athens, including a Beriev Be-200 amphibious aircraft leased from Russia. The fire damaged electrical towers and strained the power grid, which was already under strain due to increased use of air-conditioning.
The Greek fire department kept an alert on most parts of the country on Tuesday and Wednesday, while public and some private service departments adjusted their business hours to allow afternoon closures.
