Greece Battling Wildfires Amid High Winds

Athens, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Aug, 2024) Greece was battling several wildfires on Sunday, with smoke covering parts of the capital Athens in a haze, amid warnings for extreme weather conditions for the rest of the week.

By Sunday afternoon, firefighters had quickly dealt with 33 out of the 40 blazes that had broken out in the past 24 hours, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told the press at an emergency briefing.

But the force was battling seven more were still raging on what was shaping up to be an extremely difficult day's work for the force in the high Mediterranean summer heat, he said.

The country's minister for civil protection had warned a day earlier that half the country was under a high-risk warning for fires due to high temperatures, wind gusts and drought conditions.

In the region of East Attica, a blaze in the town of Varnavas was raging in an area with scattered houses, emitting so much smoke that the capital Athens glowed red at one point on Sunday afternoon.

A force of 250 firefighters backed by 67 vehicles, 12 firefighting aircraft and seven helicopters was deployed to battle the flames, which "in many cases reached more than 25 metres high", Vathrakogiannis said.

As the fire was threatening dwellings the Greek army was on hand to help with their efforts, he added.

Another fire that erupted earlier on Sunday afternoon in Megara, West Attica, triggering an evacuation alert, was partially contained.

Forty-eight firefighters equipped with 13 vehicles and additional volunteers were working on the ground, along with aerial support.

In Thessaloniki, a fire in the town of Lagadas was partially under control, with 20 firefighters, 10 vehicles and one helicopter at the scene.

Climate crisis and civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias had warned Saturday that weather conditions leading up to August 15 would be dangerous for forest fires.

- 'Extremely high temperatures' -

"Extremely high temperatures and dangerous weather conditions will prevail," he said during a government committee meeting.

A combination of strong winds and drought conditions meant "half of Greece will be in the 'red'" in terms of risk, he added.

Kostas Lagouvardos, director of research at the National Observatory of Athens, said on Sunday morning that given the current weather conditions, if the response to the fires was not quick enough the flames could quickly burn out of control.

With winds in some areas will reach 80 to 90 kilometres per hour, Lagouvardos told broadcaster ERT news that Sunday was expected to be the most difficult day to battle fires.

The Mediterranean country is exceptionally vulnerable to summer blazes, with this season seeing fires burn daily.

After the warmest winter on record, Greece also experienced its hottest June and July since reliable data collection began in 1960.

It registered its earliest recorded heatwave in June.

Scientists warn that human-induced fossil fuel emissions are worsening the length, frequency and intensity of heatwaves across the world.

The rising temperatures are leading to longer wildfire seasons and increasing the area burnt in the flames, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.