Greece heatwave latest: New fire ‘every ten minutes’ amid hunt for arsonist and search for missing American
Searches ongoing for two French women and a retired US deputy county sheriff in Cyclades
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The Greek authorities are investigating whether wildfires that threatened to engulf Athens were sparked by a single arsonist.
Civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias said officials verified indications that the fire near Athens was the result of arson as well as extreme weather conditions.
A fire service spokesman has said the force is struggling to deal with the spate of blazes, adding: “Almost every 10 minutes a new fire breaks out.”
In Koropi, a storage facility and at least one home were burned, and flames crept into a boat dry dock and across fields of dry grass and olive trees. Authorities evacuated two nearby villages.
Amid the heatwave, several foreign tourists have died or gone missing while hiking in high temperatures. The girlfriend of a missing American tourist has criticised Greek authorities for allegedly doing little to help search for him.
Albert Calibet, 59, has been missing since last Tuesday while hiking on the island of Amorgos.
At least five tourists have been found dead on the Greek Islands in recent weeks.
Have you been affected by this? Email barney.davis.ind@independent.co.uk
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Gale force winds and tinderbox like conditions spread fires easily
Scores of Greek firefighters and water-bombing aircraft succeeded late Wednesday in taming a large wildfire on the fringes of Athens that forced authorities to evacuate two nearby settlements.
Summer wildfires also plagued Greece’s Mediterranean neighbor Turkey, where two villages were evacuated but no injuries were reported.
The Greek fire service said the blaze near Athens — one of dozens all over the country Wednesday — had been largely contained but firefighters would remain on alert all evening to stop it reviving.
Officials said the wildfire was exacerbated by windy, hot and dry weather and appeared to have been deliberately started.
It broke out in low scrub and olive trees in a sparsely inhabited area near Vari, some 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of central Athens.
Fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said winds at times reached gale force, while police were enlisted to remove some residents from their homes.
Greece at the frontline of battle against climate change
Greece is on the frontline in the world’s battle against climate change, being hit by extreme heat and flooding in the space of just a few weeks last year. It recorded its longest heatwave on record, lasting 16 days, in July 2023. The high temperatures fuelled wildfires across the country that saw locals and tourists evacuated.
The minister responsible for civil protection, Vassilis Kikilias, said the last week has posed a particular wildfire risk due to the combination of high temperatures and winds. “The early start of the heatwaves, combined with the dry winter, has led to a very difficult fire season,” he said.
A total of 44 agricultural fires were reported by the fire service last Thursday alone.
Travel company adapting trips according to heat levels
Radek Nowak, active product manager for Intrepid Travel – an agency that specialises in walking holidays, said they have had to adapt trips according to the heat: “The soaring summer temperatures in Europe are certainly making it more challenging for people to do more active holidays.”
Intrepid no longer runs hiking trips in Spain and Portugal during the hottest months of July and August. Winter trips have been added instead in countries such as Greece and Croatia.
Radek added: “When groups are doing walks or hikes in the warm weather, we plan our days around the weather, heading out early in the morning before the heat reaches its peak.”
Man arrested over fire in Attica in Greece, officials say
A man has been arrested over a fire in Attica in Greece, officials have said.
The Greek fire service said the man was arrested and fined on Thursday over the blaze in Thea Varybompis at the foot of Mount Parnitha.
Tourists warned of heatstroke risks after a number die or go missing
Dimitris Katatzis, head of the Samos rescue team, said tourists are unaware of the risks they face walking in the heat. Saying they often “veer off track” to see sites and then get lost. “We saw a couple [of foreigners] walking a trail in 41C without hats,” he told local media. “It defies logic.”
Dr Mohit Mandiratta, resident GP on BBC Breakfast, has warned of the complications even the healthiest people can face in the heat. He told The Independent: “Heat can affect anyone, including fit and healthy people, and be very serious if not treated immediately.
“It can come on quickly, over minutes, or gradually over hours, so it’s important we all stay alert to symptoms.”
Heatstroke is a life-threatening condition that occurs when your core body temperature reaches 40C or higher and must be treated immediately.
Winds from North Africa are pushing a hot and dry front across the Balkans
New wildfire by Greek lake
Another wildfire broke out in a forest near Lake Volvi, in the Halkidiki area in northern Greece, on Thursday.
Some 37 firefighters with 16 vehicles have been dispatched to the area with one aircraft and a helicopter dumping water on the blaze.
A message from 112 was sent to local residents alerting them about the fire.
A fire service spokesman said told Greek TV fires were breaking out every ten minutes.
Temperatures set to hit 40C again today
Weather alert site meteoalarm.org has issued yellow and amber warnings for high temperatures across the country, which are in place throughout Thursday.
“Attica, Corinth, a large part of Argolida and Messinia, Viotia, southern Evia, as well as many islands of the Aegean (Lesvos, Chios, Cyclades etc) and southern Crete are at risk of forest fires,” according to a map created by the flame team at the National Observatory of Athens.
Thodoris Giannaros warned that the current weather “increase significantly the flammability of dead forest fuels” leading to the “perfect kindling for fire”.
Accidentally starting a fire now a criminal act - minister says
Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias warned in a social media post that even accidentally sparking a fire in volatile conditions has become a criminal act.
He was commenting on the arrest of a 30-year-old Greek man on Tuesday for starting a wildfire in Nigrita, Serres.
Announcing the arrest, Kikilias said that the 30-year-old “confessed that while carrying out agricultural work, he caused the dangerous fire we faced in Nigrita, Serres.”
He added “the law has been made stricter and negligence constitutes a criminal act.”
