A new, major forest fire broke out Sunday in an area near the Greek capital, Athens, as the country braces for a tough fire season.
Greece experiences many fires every year, but the situation may get worse this year after experiencing the coldest winter in its history, and the harshest early heat wave with temperatures reaching 44 degrees Celsius.
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A plane and firefighting teams battle a forest fire near Athens
A fire broke out today in the Keratea area, about 20 kilometers south of the Greek capital, in the Plaka area, where there are forests.
The fire approached homes in the afternoon, according to the Greek News Agency, while strong winds threatened to spread it.
About sixty firefighters and 17 vehicles, in addition to eight planes and two helicopters, were deployed to try to control the fire.
Shortly after 12:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. GMT), the authorities set up an alert system and called on residents in the areas of “Markati”, “Plaka” and “Panorama” to evacuate their homes and head towards the “Lavrio” area.
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Forest fire near Athens
A large fire that broke out in the same area was brought under control yesterday, Saturday. Another fire that broke out on Saturday on the island of Serifos and caused significant damage was also put out this morning, Sunday.
“The whole southwest of Serifos burned down, and the fire stopped when it reached the sea,” Serifos Mayor Konstantinos Reventis told a local TV channel.
For Sunday, the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection had expected the fire danger to be very high in the Attica region, the southern Peloponnese peninsula, the island of Crete, the northern and southern parts of the Aegean Sea, and central Greece.
It took hours to put out a fire on Mount Parnitha near Athens yesterday, Saturday, and reinforcements from many Greek regions and volunteer firefighters participated in controlling the disaster.
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Residents and firefighters fight a fire
More than 40 forest fires broke out across Greece on Saturday, with wind speeds sometimes exceeding 100 kilometers per hour, according to fire services.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in his weekly Facebook post on Sunday, called on residents to prepare for a difficult season.
“Difficult times lie ahead,” he wrote. “Our efforts continue with the help of new tools that help build a new culture of prevention and responsibility.”
He stressed that “the fire in Parnitha was very intense but fortunately it was detected immediately thanks to the surveillance drone system set up this year for the forests and mountainous areas of Attica.”
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