Calm winds allow resumption of aerial operations to combat Greece wildfires

Firefighting aircraft took off on Monday morning in Greece, taking advantage of a decrease in wind intensity, to support ground crews battling several blazes, particularly in the Athens area, which has so far claimed five lives, according to the fire department, as reported by France Press.

A spokesperson for the fire department’s media office told France Press, “We are facing three difficult fronts today in Psatha, Kryo Pegadia, and Kandili,” within an area located between 45 and 70 kilometers west of Athens.

Thanks to the reduced wind speed, nine firefighting aircraft took off early on Monday to support nine helicopters and 450 firefighters deployed to combat the fires in the Boeotia and Attica regions, which include Athens, according to the official.

Gusts reaching speeds of 80 kilometers per hour in recent days had prevented the use of aircraft.

On Monday morning, Civil Protection ordered the evacuation of additional villages near Kandili, located 45 kilometers west of Athens.

Deputy Minister of Civil Protection and Climate Crisis, Kostas Katsavados, told the state channel “ERT News” on Monday that “the battle against the fires is unequal.”

During the peak of the tourist season, the risk of fires on Monday remained “very high,” at level four on a five-level scale, in Attica and the neighboring Boeotia region, according to Civil Protection.

Greece has been battling fires for the second consecutive week, which have destroyed thousands of hectares of forests, shrublands, and agricultural land, after the country had so far been relatively spared from major blazes at the beginning of the summer season, unlike France and Spain.

Within a week, more than 12,000 hectares of forests and agricultural land have burned in Greece, which is severely affected by the climate crisis, as are the entire Mediterranean region, according to data published by media outlets citing analyses from the European “Copernicus” program.

Three firefighters died while carrying out their duties last week, in addition to a helicopter pilot and his assistant, who were killed on Sunday when their helicopter collided with another while attempting to extinguish fires in the Psatha area.

Authorities have detained employees of an electricity company linked to a fire believed to have started on Friday due to a spark emitted from an electrical cable near the coastal village of Porto Germeno on the Gulf of Corinth, 60 kilometers from Athens.