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Huge wildfire tears through Athens in Greece’s worst heatwave for 30 years

Fun VLOG August 03, 2021
Homes burned down in Athens amid wildfires which caused the closure of part of the national motorway.
Emergency service crews and locals attempt to limit the destruction (Picture: AP/Reuters)

Homes burned down in Athens amid wildfires which caused the closure of part of the national motorway.

More than 100 wildfires have burned across Greece in the last couple of days, fuelled by the country’s worst heatwave in three decades.

One of the fires sent smoke over the capital and forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes to avoid the fire near Tatoi, a forest area 12 miles north of Athens.

Authorities also closed the Acropolis and other ancient sites during afternoon hours as temperatures reached 42C.

A section of Motorway 1, a 550km road which connects five major cities, was shut.

Officials described the heatwave as the most intense in more than 30 years.

As many as 104 firefighters with 35 vehicles and nine aircraft were battling the blaze in the Varympompi suburb of Tatoi near Parnitha mountain in the scorching weather.

Many homes lost electricity and others were engulfed in flames and razed to the ground, Greek Reporter wrote.

Explosions heard as firefighters battle wildfire near Athens
People watch the smoke from a wildfire north of the Greek capital, spreading over Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. Hundreds of residents living near a forest area north of Athens fled their homes Tuesday as a wildfire reached residential areas as Greece grappled with its worst heatwave in decades. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)
People watch the smoke from a wildfire near the Greek capital (Picture: AP)
A volunteer firefighter holds a hose during a wildfire at Varympompi suburb north of Athens, Greece, August 3, 2021. REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis
A volunteer firefighter holds a hose during a wildfire at Varympompi suburb north of Athens (Picture: Reuters)
Flames burn on the mountain near Limni village on the island of Evia, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. Greece Tuesday grappled with the worst heatwave in decades that strained the national power supply and fueled wildfires near Athens and elsewhere in southern Greece. As the heat wave scorching the eastern Mediterranean intensified, temperatures reached 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit) in parts of the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Michael Pappas)
Greece is grappling with its worst heatwave in decades that strained the national power supply (Picture: AP)
epa09392005 A man watches the wildfire burning at Varybobi, northeastern suburb of Athens, Greece, 03 August 2021. The wildfire that broke out in a forest in the Varybobi area on August 3rd spread quickly due to the dry conditions, despite the lack of strong winds and the efforts of fire-fighting forces to contain it quickly. There are 60 fire-fighters with 20 vehicles, two teams of fire fighters on foot and four helicopters and four aircraft, including a Beriev 200, deployed to put out the fire. The police have stopped the movement of vehicles on the Tatoiou Road between Kymis Avenue and Erithrea Road, on Erithrea Road between the Varybobi bridge and on Tatoiou from Parnithos Road (Ippokratios Politia). EPA/YANNIS KOLESIDIS
The wildfire that broke out in a forest in Varybobi spread quickly due to the dry conditions (Picture: EPA)

Fire brigade spokesman Vasilis Vathrakogiannis said the blaze was not threatening factories in the area but a wide-scale evacuation of the zone would be ordered if necessary.

The Civil Protection authority warned residents to be on alert and keep windows and doors shut to prevent sparks from entering their homes.

Extraordinary photos showed residents using their own hose pipes to help put out huge fires.

People swam in the sea as plumes of smoke billowed above the historic Athens skyline.

Heatwaves are continuing to rage across Europe, with sunseekers in Italy forced to run from towering smoke and flames.

epa09392020 A firefighting aircraft douses a wildfire in the area of Varybobi, northeastern suburb of Athens, Greece, 03 August 2021. The wildfire that broke out in a forest in the Varybobi area on August 3rd spread quickly due to the dry conditions, despite the lack of strong winds and the efforts of fire-fighting forces to contain it quickly. There are 60 fire-fighters with 20 vehicles, two teams of fire fighters on foot and four helicopters and four aircraft, including a Beriev 200, deployed to put out the fire. The police have stopped the movement of vehicles on the Tatoiou Road between Kymis Avenue and Erithrea Road, on Erithrea Road between the Varybobi bridge and on Tatoiou from Parnithos Road (Ippokratios Politia). EPA/YANNIS KOLESIDIS
A firefighting aircraft douses one of Greece’s many wildfires (Picture: EPA)
Smoke from a wildfire north of the Greek capital, spreads over Acropolis, in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. Hundreds of residents living near a forest area north of Athens fled their homes Tuesday as a wildfire reached residential areas as Greece grappled with its worst heatwave in decades. (AP Photo/Aggelos Barai)
Smoke from a wildfire north of the Greek capital spreads over Acropolis (Picture: AP)
Flames burn on the mountain near Limni village on the island of Evia, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. Greece Tuesday grappled with the worst heatwave in decades that strained the national power supply and fueled wildfires near Athens and elsewhere in southern Greece. As the heat wave scorching the eastern Mediterranean intensified, temperatures reached 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit) in parts of the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Michael Pappas)
Flames burn on the mountain near Limni village on the island of Evia, about 160 kilometers north of Athens (Picture: AP)
A man drops water to burning trees during a wildfire in Adames area, northern Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. Hundreds of residents living near a forest area north of Athens fled their homes Tuesday as a wildfire reached residential areas as Greece grappled with its worst heatwave in decades. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
A man drops water to burning trees during a wildfire in Adames area (Picture: AP)

Pescara mayor Carlo Masci said the impact on the local environmental was ‘incalculable’.

Wildfires have also been tearing through forests and villages on Turkey’s southern coast.

Tourists and residents fled Turkish holiday hotspots of Antalya and Mugla in small boats, as temperatures climbed above 40°C and high winds worsened the situation.

Police took to water cannons, usually used to control riots, to battle fires in the district of Bodrum, which was popular with British travelers before Covid restrictions saw Turkey put on the ‘red list’.

Videos showed tourists in the area scampering down streets with their luggage to escape the nearby flames.

MORE : Sunbathers flee blaze on Italian beach as wildfires sweep across southern Europe

MORE : Couple charged after ‘gender reveal party sparked wildfire and killed firefighter’

MORE : Tourists evacuated by boat as wildfires in Turkey tear through towns along coast

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