BBCGreece has seen summer season wildfires earlier than however this time the flames got here perilously near the capital.
At one level there have been fears of a line of fires stretching for kilometres heading for Athens, whipped up by fierce winds and excessive temperatures.
Buildings and companies have been left gutted by the flames in Vrilissia within the north-eastern suburbs, a mere 14km (eight miles) from the centre of the town.
The physique of a 63-year-old girl was present in a burned-out manufacturing facility in close by Patima Halandriou, the primary confirmed sufferer of this hearth that has torn by 100,000 acres of land leaving dozens extra individuals injured.
Colleagues mentioned she had been too scared to leap from the constructing because the flames got here shut and was then trapped inside.
Suburbs together with Nea Penteli, Vrilissia and Patima Halandriou are among the many worst affected.
Even residents in areas of Athens that escaped the hearth mentioned on Tuesday they’d discovered ash touchdown on their balconies.
The massive smoke cloud that for hours hung over Athens has now gone, though the sky continues to be hazy.
Firefighters say they’re exhausted after days spent making an attempt to cease the flames from encroaching additional on the capital.
Vassilis Kikilias, the minister for Local weather Disaster and Civil Safety, praised the “superhuman effort” of some 700 firefighters backed by forest commando groups who had since Sunday afternoon fought the hearth for 40 hours in north-eastern Attica.
“We confronted a level-five fireplace danger with winds of 7-8 Beaufort [gale force], extended drought, and a rugged space with these traits – mountains, forests, and scattered properties,” he mentioned.
Marble and stone service provider Thanassis Kevezes needed to depart his enterprise in Vrilissia on Monday because the smoke and flames took maintain.
Returning to his yard the following morning he estimated that the hearth had prompted €30,000 (£25,000) in harm.
A significant drawback, he mentioned, was the extremely flammable pine bushes that populated this space and far of Greece: “We love them as Greeks however on the identical time I personally hate them now.”
Within the suburbs of Vrilissia and Nea Penteli, and additional to the north-east in Varnavas and the traditional city of Marathon, residents and enterprise house owners are counting the price.
A pine forest burnt close to Varnavas went up in flames and hundreds of acres of farmland have been misplaced. Burning pine cones despatched fizzing into the air made the duty of preventing the fires that a lot tougher.
Sotiris Evangelopoulos got here to examine the harm at his father-in-law’s home on the very north-eastern outskirts of Athens.
The property, fortunately, was effective however for some harm to the entrance yard.
Over his lifetime he has seen the summer season temperatures soar increased and better, and the season final even longer, whereas the winters have develop into hotter and shorter.
Mr Evangelopoulos criticises authorities for permitting the capital to develop additional into the pine forests surrounding Athens, leaving individuals who dwell there extra uncovered to wildfires.
Kostas Lagouvardos, Analysis Director on the Nationwide Observatory of Athens, agrees that has sophisticated the scenario.
“It’s very tough to discover a resolution as a result of you’ve got an growth of the town in direction of an space the place you’ve got bushes and forests.
“Then again you’ve got weather conditions that change from one yr to the opposite. We’ve had three summers that are very popular and really dry and you’ve got very giant fires, not solely in Athens, however in lots of different areas in Greece.”
For now the firefighters are specializing in scattered hotspots fairly than one main fireplace entrance.
A recent evacuation order was issued on Tuesday for a part of the seaside city of Nea Makri, and flames approached properties within the close by city of Erythros. The sturdy winds of Sunday and Monday weren’t as fierce on Tuesday morning, however forecasters warned they’d construct up once more through the afternoon.
Mr Lagouvardos believes policymakers and engineers must work with nationwide and native authorities to discover a resolution. However he’s pessimistic for the longer term, and never simply due to the elevated danger of forest fires.
“You may have implications for agriculture and well being. You may have a really lengthy interval of excessive temperatures in Athens this summer season. You may have many areas within the centre with excessive temperatures additionally at evening which is a really unhealthy drawback for human well being.”
