Athens wildfire brought under control after evacuations

Greek firefighters said a wind-driven wildfire southeast of Athens was brought under control on Monday, August 10, after authorities evacuated several residential areas and sent nearly 200 firefighters to the area.

The fire began around 8:00 am local time in Kouvaras, about 60 kilometres southeast of Athens, and was fed by winds of more than 70 kilometres per hour. Authorities deployed around 40 vehicles, two water-bombing planes and four helicopters.

By early afternoon, the fire service press office said the situation had greatly improved and there was no active front. It said firefighters would stay in the area because temperatures remained high and strong gusts continued.

Images from Ertnews showed firefighters working on a mountainside farm, where the warehouse of a livestock farm was destroyed by the flames.

The blaze was the second fire near Athens this summer. A fire that broke out 10 days earlier northwest of the capital destroyed more than 11,000 hectares of pine forest and farmland.

Greece remained on maximum alert on Monday, with several regions at very high fire risk. In Attica, where Athens is located, temperatures were expected to reach up to 37C with strong gusts. Scientists link increasingly frequent and intense wildfires in Greece and the wider Mediterranean to climate change.