Wildfire continues to rage in northern Athens, prompting more evacuations

ATHENS

A wildfire that started over the weekend in northern Athens continued to rage, prompting the evacuation of more settlements in the early hours of Tuesday.

In addition to numerous settlements and three hospitals that were evacuated earlier, residents of the village of Vranas were advised Monday night to leave.

Public broadcaster ERT announced that the fire, which had earlier expanded in three major fronts, was presently raging in only one front, Ano Souli.

Fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said there was a single active front but scattered outbreak as of the evening.

It added that a charred body, likely of a woman, was found by firefighters in the area of Patima Vrilissia early Tuesday.

The National Meteorological Service, citing images from the European Sentinel 2 satellite, reported that over 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles) were burnt to ashes by the wildfire as of noon Monday.

Expressing solidarity, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “We stand with Greece as it battles devastating fires. The EU is sending support from its rescEU (EU Civil Protection Mechanism) fleet: two planes from Italy and a helicopter from France. Firefighting teams from the Czech Republic and Romania are also being deployed. This is EU solidarity in action.”

After offering help to its Aegean neighbor, Türkiye on Monday also announced that it will send two firefighting planes and one helicopter to help Greece fight the blaze.