A wildfire caused by strong winds destroyed vegetation in the southern suburbs of Athens on Saturday, forcing several residents to evacuate, firefighters said.
Greek Civil Defense has called residents of Ano Vola and surrounding areas by SMS via emergency number 112 to evacuate their homes, the fire has already reached a residential area.
The mayor of Waula, Gregory Constantellos, told the television channel that the fire, which was out of control at the time, had extinguished four other areas on Saturday afternoon, changing the direction of the wind and pushing the flames towards the water. Sky.
Six water bombers
Six water bombers, three helicopters and municipal tank trucks with 20 fire engines are in support of the dozens of firefighters who intervened.
The media reported that electricity was cut off in the area where roofs, gardens and vehicles were damaged by the fire. Sky showed scenes of licking inside the flames of a house.
Asked by Open TV, the mayor of Vola said about twenty houses had been damaged.
“The situation is very difficult and the wind is not helping,” said Giannis Constantados, mayor of the neighboring town of Elinikon-Arcropoli. “The atmosphere is suffocating and difficult to breathe,” he told the Athens News Agency.
Is the power plant involved?
Giorgos Papanikolaou, mayor of Clifada, who caused the fire, without giving further details, said a high-voltage power station was the cause of the disaster, the company added.
Later in the afternoon, another fire broke out in Gouras, near Athens, but no residential areas were threatened.
More than 200 firefighters and equipment from other EU countries will soon be deployed in Greece to assist in the fight against these disasters. The European Commission said on Thursday that Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Romania and Norway would take part in the operation, which was coordinated by the EU’s civil defense mechanism.
afp / fgn
“Avid gamer. Social media geek. Proud troublemaker. Thinker. Travel fan. Problem solver.”