Thousands Evacuated as Greek Wildfire Spreads
Thousands of people have been forced out of their homes in the northern suburbs of Athens as firefighters on Tuesday raced to extinguish Greece's worst wildfire in 2024....
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Facts
- Thousands of people have been forced out of their homes in the northern suburbs of Athens as firefighters on Tuesday raced to extinguish Greece's worst wildfire in 2024.[1][2]
- The blaze, which broke out on Sunday near Lake Marathon, has expanded further to Mount Pendeli and Athens' northern and northeastern suburbs, triggering massive evacuations.[3][4]
- Fanned by strong winds, the flames, some as high as 25 meters (about 82 feet), had spread to 40 locations on Monday, reportedly burning dozens of homes and businesses.[5][6]
- The fast-spreading wildfire left at least one dead in a charred factory in Athens' Patima Halandriou suburb. The victim is reportedly identified as a 60-year-old Moldovan woman.[7][8]
- Over 700 firefighters, 199 fire engines, and 35 water-dropping planes have been assisting in combating the blaze in scattered hotspots, as conditions for new fires remain dangerous throughout the week.[9][10]
- According to Greece's National Observatory, the wildfire has destroyed around 10K hectares (about 38 square miles) of land. At least 66 people have been receiving treatment for injuries, including two firefighters.[11][12]
Sources: [1]NBC, [2]La croix international, [3]Associated Press (a), [4]New York Post, [5]France 24, [6]Associated Press (b), [7]Independent, [8]English, [9]BBC News, [10]CNN, [11]Reuters and [12]Al Jazeera.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by CBS and The Conversation. Greece is facing a biblical catastrophe due to its failure to curb human-induced fossil fuel emissions, which worsen the length, frequency, and intensity of heat waves year after year. With over 47K heat-related deaths in Europe last year — with Greece leading at 393 per million — the turbulence that climate change can bring is undeniable. Athens can no longer be complacent and allow these catastrophic wildfires to become a regular occurrence.
- Narrative B, as provided by www.euractiv.com and Al Jazeera. Wildfires are often people-made disasters. While wildfires are a natural part of many ecosystems and are common during the summertime in Greece, the most devastating wildfires have been caused by negligence, arson, poor forest management practices, a lack of pre-emptive operations, and the government's piecemeal interventions that don't address the root causes of the country's increased fire risk over the past decade.
- Narrative C, as provided by Euronews. While a dispersed archipelago geography makes the Mediterranean country more vulnerable to wildfires, the Greek authorities aren't underestimating the impacts of climate change and have established a credible plan for climate adaptation. Additionally, the government has made causing a forest fire a criminal offense and created the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection to improve forest fire abatement and take preventive measures to tackle intensive wildfires.
