Wildfires Ravage More Than 12,000 Hectares Across Greece

Athens: Greece remained on high alert on Sunday as wildfires continued to burn across several regions, leaving extensive damage after a week of devastating blazes that destroyed more than 12,000 hectares of forests and agricultural land, according to early estimates.

The fires have affected multiple parts of the country, with the coastal area around Porto Germeno, near Athens, among the worst-hit regions. The National Observatory of Athens’ climate monitoring platform, meteo.gr, initially estimated that separate fires along the Gulf of Corinth had burned more than 6,500 hectares, including areas around the popular seaside village.

However, wildfire meteorologist Theodore Giannaros said the scale of the destruction around Porto Germeno could be significantly higher. The senior National Observatory researcher estimated that the fire may have affected more than 10,000 hectares — nearly twice the initial assessment.

Porto Germeno and several neighbouring villages were evacuated after the blaze erupted on Friday. Local authorities said dozens of homes had been damaged or completely destroyed.

Earlier in the week, major fires on the islands of Crete and Paros affected an additional 6,000 hectares, according to meteo.gr, adding to the growing toll from one of Greece’s most severe wildfire outbreaks of the summer.

Firefighters have been responding to dozens of blazes each day, stretching emergency services to their limits. Civil Protection Minister Evangelos Tournas said on Saturday that the country’s fire department had been under intense pressure due to the scale and frequency of the outbreaks.

Three firefighters were killed while battling the fires this week. Two died in Crete, while another lost his life in the Peloponnese.

Strong winds further complicated firefighting operations, with gale-force conditions preventing aircraft from effectively supporting crews on the ground in some areas.

Tournas said severe turbulence had made it difficult for firefighting aircraft to collect water or carry out water drops in several locations.

Although wind conditions eased late Saturday, authorities continued to warn of an extremely high fire risk in the greater Athens region, neighbouring Voiotia and the island of Evia on Sunday.

Nearly 500 firefighters were deployed to tackle the fires around Porto Germeno, located about 70 kilometres northwest of Athens, the fire service said. Around 100 firefighters were also battling another major blaze in Aigialia in the northern Peloponnese.

A fresh wildfire broke out late Saturday on the Ionian island of Cephalonia, opening another front for emergency crews.