In the north of Athens, the fire brigade is trying to get the blazing forest fires under control with airplanes and helicopters. Suburban residents were already leaving their homes in a panic.
Athens – After the outbreak of a major fire in the north of the Greek capital Athens, fire-fighting planes and helicopters are fighting the runaway flames.
Several helicopters and fire-fighting planes equipped with large water containers dropped thousands of liters of water on the fire fronts. The flames raged between the houses in the suburbs of Varybobi and Acharnes on Tuesday afternoon. Some houses were blazing, as the state television (ERT) showed.
“Leave your homes immediately,” said the mayor of Acharnes, Spyros Vrettos, on state television (ERT). The residents of the region received this message from the civil defense via SMS. Thick billows of smoke were visible from all parts of Athens.
Residents left the affected areas in a panic. “Hell is behind us,” a resident yelled from his car to local reporters. Several confused horses ran through the streets of Varybobi village. The owners of a riding club had previously released the animals in the face of a fire front that was approaching them, local reporters reported. The fire is spreading rapidly from a forest to inhabited areas, announced the governor of the region Giorgos Patoulis and called on all people to leave the area where the fire raged immediately. Weather experts have feared for days that fires of this magnitude could break out.
All of Greece has been hit by a historic heat wave for more than a week. In Athens, the thermometers showed 44 degrees on Tuesday afternoon. dpa
